On Thin Ice
by AlandrasChaos
Summary: Ruby, the sole survivor of Vault 111 has been thrust into a new world unlike the one she lived all her life. Learning to step up to the plate of being General of the Minutemen, she quickly finds her place in the world, becoming a strong and ruthless leader. (Romance : Ruby and Hancock) (During and after the events of Fallout 4 / Minutemen ending)
1. Chapter 1

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 1: Memories and Mistakes**

Things weren't what Ruby had expected out of her life. Then again who could really plan for nuclear war to happen, your husband to be shot in front of your eyes and your son stolen. Everything that ever was, that could ever be, was taken from Ruby. Yet when she woke from that Vault, stumbling out into the new world like a newborn. That 32 year old, former lawyer had to learn quick to defend herself. Initially her saving grace in the harsh world had been her old butler robot, Codsworth. He was what held Ruby together during the trying times, and what had held her from wanting to jump off the deep end of going crazy. The innocent mind from which Ruby had emerged slowly developed into a hard edged fighter. Her eyes grew darker, deep gashes trailed down her face that would soon develop into scars. She even went as far as to cut her hair to the base of her nape. Everything that her dead husband would of probably cried over. Yet this was no longer the past, this was the future and this hard edged fighter needed to look forward.

That 32 year old former lawyer found herself sitting at the very bar called The Third Rail. Her hands slowly snaked into her hair, those dark hues closed. She had been sleep deprived, everything still was a learning curve for her. She once wouldn't even dare graced these type of places. Looking up the woman's hues gazed over at Magnolia, a curvy woman donning a red dress that sparkled just perfectly when the light hit it. It reminded Ruby of the very shoes that were worn in the classic movie 'The Wizard of Oz'. Funny story, Ruby always wondered if her mother's love for that movie had influenced her name. She would never know. Magnolia's voice had a sweet velvety tone to it, the type to cause the tensest person to relax. Sitting up in her stool, Ruby's hues darted back over to the Mr. Handy floating effortlessly in front of her. His eye lenses constricting.

"Charlie, I'll have another." Ruby motioned for a beer.

"Still tastes like crap." The Handy responded.

Cracking open the beer and pulling off the cap, Ruby slipped it into her pocket. Her hues noticed a form settling down beside her, her vision was beginning to grow fuzzy from the excess alcohol she had been drowning herself in.

"Are you going to be ok in this condition?"

It was Nick.

The woman had seemingly formed a habit of picking up companions. She was alright if nobody wanted to travel along with her, she had Codsworth after all. First it was the stray dog, then it was Piper and now Nick. They stuck to her side like a magnet. Everyone was so eager to learn about her and teach her the world as she was eager to learn about it. Nobody was missing out on anything.

"I.. should probably sleep it off before we continue on.." Ruby tipped her head, those dark hues gazing over Nick's fuzzy form.

She could tell the Synth was judging her.

Simply melding minds with Nick so they could access what was in Kellogg's memory had caused the woman to want to escape from reality, even for a few hours. She didn't care to see her husband shot to death and her kid stolen from her once again. Once was enough to live through. She hoped Nick would understand this.

"Nick, I'll be fine. I'll meet you up at the Hotel in a few hours." Ruby smiled weakly, her dark hues glazed over. She could see the hesitation in the Synth's face.

Patting her on the shoulder, Nick stood up from his stool and nodded.

"I'll hold you to it."

"Yeah." She whispered.

Ruby watched Nick's worn down form leave the club and disappear from sight. Turning her head back towards the bar, the woman dazed off, watching the small flames from Charlie's engine erupt, keeping his body afloat. The Mr. Handy buzzed behind the bar, his clamps spinning around as he washed out the cups. The woman could feel her mind wondering as to how Codsworth was doing. She left him back at Sanctuary, yet he didn't put up much of a tiff when she said she was going to venture off with Nick. He seemed quite supportive of her other companion. She knew he would most likely scold her out if he saw her in this state, saying she needed to straighten herself up so she could search for her son. The thought of Codsworth being angry with her brought a weak smile to her face, he always cared for her and the family. Even if it was programmed in, the longer she spent with him the more she figured it was genuine. Time had a funny way of changing things.

Ruby took another deep swig of her beer when she caught glimpse of a red frock moving past her and sitting down. Her brown glazed hues darted over to the form, her cheeks red from the alcohol, fitting for her name.

"Hey there sister, looks like you've acquainted yourself with Charlie already." The hoarse voice called out to her in her fuzzy state. Closing her eyes and sighing inwardly she waved her free hand.

"Couldn't resist." she mumbled.

"You look like you could use some work. Whenever you feel like it, meet me at the Statehouse. I'll hook you up." The voice grew smooth.

"Thanks."

"Sure thing."

The woman gazed over her shoulder, watching the Ghoul walk away from her. She appreciated the thought. Needing all the caps she could get her hands on, she accepted whatever work she could get. So long she wasn't out killing anyone innocent. Drumming her fingers on the bar, Magnolia's music began to play once more, taking the edge off of her nerves.

While this world was new to her, and had been presented with some tough challenges, Ruby accepted everything with open arms. Nick was a Synth, she never judged him for one moment about it. Ruby was an open minded person, it's what made her a good lawyer. Despite everyone's growing outcries about Synths infiltrating everywhere, the Commonwealth probably needed someone with a fresh pair of eyes. Ghouls were no different to the woman. She was initially shocked to find them wondering around. Ruby never did once judge them for it and had learned quickly they where no really different then any other human. Just lived longer and had a fantastic resistance to radiation. Ruby probably fit into Goodneighbor just a bit to well.

#

Ruby stumbled into the hotel room, softly closing the door behind her, her blurry gaze caught the glimpse of two glowing eyes in the dark corner of the room. Feeling an itch to grab her rifle, she immediately stopped herself, it was Nick.

"It's four in the morning, isn't that usually a time you should reserve for sleeping?" The Synth asked.

"I got caught up.." Ruby shrugged off her leather jacket, laying it over the back of one of the many chairs that adored the room. Turning herself, the woman slowly sank down into the bed, letting out a comforting groan. Pulling the strap to her rifle back around her shoulder, she gently set it down along side the floor, next to the bed. Ruby never ventured far from it.

"Mmm." The woman could hear the disapproval in Nick's voice. He had been trying to get her to sleep more for the sake of her own health. Not because he was trying to be controlling of her life.

Leaning back against the wall, she kicked her boots off and stretched out on the bed, those glazed dark eyes appearing off into the distance.

"Hancock offered me some work. I could use the caps." Ruby looked over at Nick, a brow raising.

"Well, he isn't exactly the type I'd like getting involved with, but he does keep his word. At least he's honest." Nick sighed, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket.

Ruby watched Nick light it up, the embers cascading gentle glows over his face. The woman could feel the pull of sleep the longer she remained relaxed.

"Mmm." Nick mumbled once more.

"Thoughts?" Ruby perked up.

"You need to sleep… get some proper sleep. I will be out in the lobby if you need me." Nick stood up, taking a long drag of his cigarette and softly blowing it out.

"Alright." Ruby mumbled, her eyes already closing before Nick could shut the door closed.

#

Traitor…

Bobbie No Nose had led her right into a trap. The dumb woman kept everyone in the dark, breaking into one of the very warehouses owned by the Mayor. Fahrenheit had met the group, looking like she was about ready to gun everyone down. This wasn't something Ruby was wanting on her record. Gathering allies was what she needed, not enemies. Nick had warned her about this kind of crap. Yet the woman was still learning about who was who. If it hadn't of been for her quick wit, she managed to get Bobbie to run off and Fahrenheit to stand down long enough to hear her out. Despite Fahrenheit being hard around the edges, Ruby had not expected to walk out of this encounter with a Mini gun. Her ass sure had been on the line.

Now sitting back in her hotel room, the Ash-Maker sitting next to the bed, the woman's dark hues darted from the unsure gaze from Nick. She was sure she wasn't getting in anyones good graces if she continued down this path. She had felt like she was making one mistake after another. Hell the whole journey so far had been a mistake. Ruby knew her cryo pod malfunctioned, a mistake that saved her life while everyone else died. It was a mistake she ran into Piper, which lead her to Valentine. Now her latest mistake landed her in hot water with the Mayor and a killer looking gun, which she could hardly carry around as it was.

"I should of listened to you Nick, I knew better then to trust some random woman offering me a job. Specially if I didn't know the circumstances of it." Ruby sighed, her dark hues gazing up at her partner.

"You just need to be a bit more careful is all. You can't go around trusting everyone." Nick tipped his head.

Standing up from the bed, Ruby ran her finger's through her dark brunette tresses. Dropping her hands back to her sides, she looked over at Nick sighing inwardly.

"Well I suppose I better go check in with the Mayor. Im sure he won't be happy with this mess." Ruby shook her head.

The woman left the hotel, leaving Nick behind. This was her own mistake and she wanted to handle it on her own. Walking over to the Old State house, she hesitated once reaching the door, taking a deep breath before walking in.

 **Authors Note:**

 **There we have it, I just jumped right in. I've never really been good when it came to my starting out chapters. If you've read any of my other stories you know I seem to have a theme going on with people who wake up from the freezer to only face the future with uncertainty. Don't worry I have not abandoned any of my other stories, just needed to get into writing something a bit more fresh. I hope you enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 2: Mistakes make friends**

Hancock nestled himself deep into one side of his favorite couch. He had just finished a small trip of Jet when he decided to light up a cigarette. Nothing was more pleasing then a good trip and a cigarette. Well most things weren't as pleasing, except sex and a cigarette. His attentions perked when he heard the door open downstairs. The Mayor wasn't expecting anyone this late. Most of his guardsmen remained fairly quiet during this time. Those coal black eyes darted over to Fahrenheit who seemingly wasn't even phased about their guest. It must have been one of the citizens wanting to beg for chems. Yet the very person who had walked into his room caught him a bit off guard. It was the Vault Dweller.

Fahrenheit had promptly gave the mayor the news shortly after Bobbi had broken into his warehouse. It didn't surprise him the Vault Dweller had been swept up into Bobbi's escapade. She was no stranger to slinking around in all the dirty paths. Yet he chose to not get his, lack of nose in her business. So long as it didn't effect him or anyone innocent. If she chose to play dirty, she chose to play dirty, it was her business. Dragging others into it was not acceptable. Specially in Goodneighbor.

Fahrenheit looked over to see the lone woman standing in the doorway. Pulling herself off the wall, the red haired woman excused herself from the room and proceeded to walk down the hallway. Ruby watched briefly before turning her attentions back towards the Mayor. She was surprised to see him so relaxed. Seeing him motion her in the room, the woman slowly pulled herself closer, her palms gripped tightly in small fists. Moving over, she slowly sank down into the couch acrossed from Hancock, it was surprisingly comfy. Unlike the couch that rotted in her old home back in Sanctuary. Running her hands down her thighs she took in a deep breath, gathering her thoughts.

"Look, I'm sorry about breaking into your warehouse with Bobbi… if I would.."

"No, she had no business sweeping you up into that mess like that, sister." Hancock interrupted her.

Ruby was immediately surprised by his revelation.

"You kept your cool, nobody got hurt. Nothing got stolen. To me, you are fine in my book." The Mayor smiled, tipping his head.

"I have to be honest with you, I was not expecting this." Ruby laughed weakly.

Hancock didn't say a word, leaning back against the couch, he flicked his cigarette and took a drag, those dark eyes gazing over Ruby's thin form. The woman was slowly growing more comfortable, he could see it in the way she stopped fidgeting with her own fingers, her eyes grew more soft. The Mayor didn't wish to keep a tight leash on anyone, what you did with your own life was your choice. He firmly believed in that.

"I've been lookin' for an excuse to leave Goodneighbor, I think you just gave me a good reason." Hancock leaned forward, smiling warmly at the woman.

The woman's face turned pale, if it could lose anymore color she would be transparent. Raising an eyebrow, Ruby glanced at him sideways.

"But you're the mayor, can you just leave?"

"Look sister, I'll always be the Mayor of Goodneighbor, whether I am here or out there. Besides, nobody in power should be sitting in comfort for to long. I should get the boots muddy and the guns hot."

Ruby only laughed, this particular Ghoul had a distinct sense of humor, a bit morbid but she was beginning to admire that about him. For what little time she had spent with him. She knew him tagging along as a companion was going get interesting quick. Ruby was going to appreciate his company though, she needed that unique set of charm in her day.

"Well if you don't mind running around getting shot at with a ex housewife, then you are more then welcome to join me." The woman tipped her head.

"Sounds like my kind of freak-show." Hancock smiled warmly

#

Ruby was leaning against the side of the dresser in her motel room, Her boots sitting near the base of the bed. The woman had been mulling over what to say to Nick. She felt guilty about the thought of sending him back to Sanctuary alone. The woman knew the old detective could handle himself, though it didn't help her nerves. He had been practically glued to her side ever since meeting him in the abandoned Vault. Like Codsworth, Nick had been a good helping hand out to the woman, being her moral compass was what she needed during these trying times. The woman was only just beginning to get a handle on the world. She still had so much more to learn though. With Preston Garvey practically making her General of the Minutemen, Ruby felt even more at a loss. She knew many had relied on her, though it gave her a small sense of purpose outside of finding her son. Something she never really had before, not even in her work. Straightening herself up from the dresser, Ruby moved over to her bag and pulled out a worn hair brush. She knew it would take up space when she picked it up off a feral ghoul but it was the little things like hair brushes and a clean set of cloths that made you feel just a bit more human. Running the brush through her dark hair, the woman winced softly as the teeth of the brush dragged against the growing knots. Pulling the brush down and away from her hair, Ruby glanced at herself in the broken mirror hanging lopsided on the wall. She tossed the brush against the dresser and dragged her fingers over her face. Nate would have been disappointed to see how far she had let herself go.

No..

Now wasn't the time to go thinking about her dead husband. Nate was no longer alive, that no longer mattered. Ruby had left that all behind when she saw the last little bits of life drain from his eyes. This wasn't time to be looking back. Dropping her hands down against the dresser, Ruby dug her fingers into the soft wood, those dark eyes glancing back up into that cracked mirror. Her own gaze scared her, she was no longer that lawyer, she was no longer that house wife, she was no longer that mother. Ruby was slowly turning into a monster. Pushing herself off the dresser, the woman softened her eyes, her right hand reaching up to her pale colored face. The woman still had fresh gashes running down her face, without proper treatment, they were taking an awful long time to heal. She gained the beauties during her fight defending the Minutemen. Preston had recommended she jump into a suit of power armor to take on a force of Raiders. Little had she known, a Death claw decidedly join the fight. The woman was able to take out the Raiders easily, but the Death claw was something else entirely. Not knowing how dangerous the creature really was, she stupidly ran after it, only for the retched creature to knock off her helmet and gash her acrossed the face. Ruby was very surprised she didn't lose an eye in the process. Though it was her daily reminder of her very own stupidity and to not go jumping in without properly preparing first. A lesson she learned rather quickly. The woman did admit though her gashes did add a sense of bad-assery to her once innocent looking face.

Sighing inwardly, Ruby broke her train of thought and picked up the hair brush once more. This time she was more gentle in brushing out her hair. Her dark tresses always seemed to glisten when she finished brushing them. Her attentions snapped to the door, hearing it creak open. Lowering the brush, the woman turned her small form. Her dark hues glanced up to see Nick walk in, those golden glowing hues gazing back at her. Smiling over at him, she leaned back against the dresser, placing the brush down and crossing her arms in front of her. Nick was just about as emotionless as ever. The old detective was hard to gauge at times. Nick always seemed so deep in thought, just observing. Most likely observing the woman. Ruby was sure he was just as curious about her as she was about him. The two never talked much initially, that until Ruby had to talk about her dead husband and missing son. Then Nick always seemed to hold a pitying attitude towards her. Ruby never wanted pity though, she just wanted to get things done.

"Nick.." Ruby's voice dropped.

"Well don't keep me in suspense." Nick tipped his head, his synthetic brows pulling up.

"I need you to go to Sanctuary. It's time we part for now." Ruby dropped her arms down by her sides.

"Well, I can't agree that leaving you is a good idea, I'll head over there. If you need me, just come and get me." Nick sighed.

Without even a second guess, the old detective walked out of the hotel room, leaving the woman a bit curious as to why he never asked why she wanted him to head over. Though she appreciated the fact he respected her wishes. Sanctuary was a safe place, she knew he would be ok there. The woman considered Sanctuary home, at least for now. It felt wrong going back to see her own home blown apart into a skeleton. For now though it would do the job, until she could set up a home all of her own.

#

Ruby sat alone on a bench just inside the gates of Goodneighbor. She packed up her personal belongings and had her trusty rifle at her side. Keeping everything in a small light pack, the woman was beginning to learn quickly that you wanted to travel light, and only have enough supplies with you to last a few days. You kept everything important back at home base. Reaching up, Ruby rubbed one of her eyes, before dropping her hand back into her lap.

"Tired of me already?"

A voice from behind spoke up.

Ruby turned herself in the bench, those dark hues resting on the form of the one and only Mayor Hancock, a big smile spreading acrossed her face.

"You took to long." She snarked back.

"Humor.. I like you already!" Hancock chuckled walking past the bench.

Ruby stood herself up, her feet almost aching knowing about the long travel she was going to have in front of her. At least she had humor for company. Hancock opened the gate to the outside, following him through, Ruby closed it behind her. Taking lead, the woman walked a bit ahead, pulling out her rifle just in case something if anything decided to attack. Her dark hues observing the tall buildings surrounding around the pair. Walking along, Ruby hears a voice from her pipe up. It was John making small talk.

"So.. Do you've got a ride of choice? I'm a mentats ghoul myself. Makes me feel more intellectual."

Ruby only smiled. Turning her head a bit to gaze back over her shoulder she gave a gentle no.

"Never really been big on chems. Liquor.. is more of my choice of.. poison."

"You were pretty drunk when I offered you work." Hancock chuckled.

"Drowning away the sorrows." The woman sung.

Silence fell between the pair once more. Ruby had never really been one for small talk. The woman even so many years ago was quiet. She would never say a word unless someone spoke to her first. It was a respect issue, something Ruby grew up learning from her mother.

"So, sister.. Where will you be whisking the Mayor off to?" Hancock piped up.

Ruby began to slow her pace, waiting for Hancock to catch up, she turned her head over to him, now walking in time with him.

"I.. decided to take things into my own hands with the Minutemen. I overheard Preston talking about taking back the Castle eventually. It's along the East coast. I would like to take it over so then the Minutemen can have a decent base of operations. Something a bit better then Sanctuary." Ruby sighed. "I am the General after all." A small smirk tugged at the sides of her lips.

"Look at you taking charge." Hancock smiled warmly at her.

"I'm just winging it, after all." Ruby laughed.

#

The pair ended up making good time with their quick pace. Ruby noticed that whenever she traveled with Nick. The old detective preferred to take a slightly longer path, hiding in the trees to avoid what conflict they could. Hancock on the other hand, charged right into battle, guns ablaze. Taking gentle steps along the broken road, rocks would pop and crack underneath the pair's boots. Ruby walked slightly ahead of the Mayor, her eyes vigilant. Hancock had better hearing then her so he kept a better ear out. She was the eyes and he was the ears. Keeping her rifle tucked close to her, the woman looked up into the sky, stopping in her tracks. Leaning her weight to one leg, Ruby looked back at the Ghoul.

"I think we should camp for the night, it's getting dark out." The woman's brows rose.

"Good idea."

Ruby turned her head back around, her dark hues gazing off into the distance. Abandoned, wrecked homes and office buildings dotted the landscape of the Commonwealth. Finding shelter was not a hard task to do. Trailing off the path, Ruby began wading through thick brush. Her boots pushing the dead plants down with every step. A small warehouse caught her eye. Looking back over her shoulder, the woman smiled.

"What do you think about that warehouse there?" Ruby inquired.

"Looks fine to me." Hancock's voice was soft.

Nodding, Ruby turned herself back towards the warehouse and pulled her rifle up close to her chest, readying it just in case she needed to clear out the worn out building. Ducking down a bit, the former lawyer trudged forward, keeping her footfalls light but quick. Hancock followed her motion, keeping himself low to the ground. Ruby ran up along close to the wall, keeping her form tucked to the side tightly. Quickly moving up to the door, she knelt down on one knee and reached slowly up to the handle. Her thin fingers wrapped around it and slowly pulled back the door. The woman could feel her heart hammering. Clearing out unknown buildings had always been stressful on her. She never enjoyed the thought of an impending battle. Leaning back up a bit, the woman rushed into the building, her rifle held up tight against her shoulder, her finger hovering over the trigger. Yet to her surprise, and relief the small building was empty.

"Well no wasted bullets tonight." Ruby turned herself just enough to gaze over at Hancock.

The mayor waltzed into the warehouse, lowering his shotgun to his side. His dark eyes gazed around, taking in what could be seen. Walking over to one side of the warehouse, Hancock lowered his pack off of his shoulder and dropped it to the floor, placing his shotgun down on top of the pack, turning himself back around, his gaze was immediately met with Ruby's. The woman didn't turn away like most would when caught staring, she only gave him a warm smile and leaned her weight over to one leg. Yet just as quickly as he caught her staring at him, Ruby moved herself out of his gaze and placed her backpack down along one of the corners of the tired looking warehouse. Sighing inwardly, Hancock leaned back against the wall and pulled out a cigarette. His dark eyes continued to follow the woman's movements, taking in how she carried herself, how she was so observant and curious. It was like watching a child discover the world. Lighting up the cigarette, Hancock took in a long drag, blowing out the smoke in small quick puffs.

Ruby sat down next to the wall, her dark hues gazing up at Hancock. A warm smile spread acrossed her face.

"Hey I just want to say thank you for hearing me out again." The woman continued to smile.

"It's not a problem sister." Hancock returned the smile, taking another drag from his cigarette.

 **Authors Note**

 **So the first few chapters might be a bit of jumping around going on until I can get a plot fixed. I don't want to follow the game to closely with it. Until then Happy Reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 3: A quiet night**

Gentle dreams rocked Ruby in to a deep form of sleep. Her body curled up against the wall of the warehouse, nestled deep inside of her sleeping bag. The woman's dark tresses slipped over her eyes causing them to twitch and her to bury her head deeper into her arms. Hancock observed the woman sleep deeply. From the little time he had known her, she had proved herself time and time again that she was capable of handling her own. Ruby never asked for much, that only her companion would keep an eye on her back and to cover her in fire. The woman never pushed for stories and seemed more patient that a lot of people he ran into. Was this how society was before the war? Hancock would never known the answer to that. He preferred the way things were now. Not how they were, look at where it got them. Looking up from the woman's form, Hancock stood up from his spot and stretched. The Mayor figured if she woke, he would take that time to sleep briefly. Pulling a cigarette out from his pocket, he quickly lit it and took in a long drag. Lowering the cigarette from his mouth he held it out, occasionally flicking it. The Mayor's eyes seemed to drift back over to the woman's sleeping form. She was so quiet. Smiling softly to himself, his small moment was interrupted when he heard a soft growling coming from the back room of the warehouse. Throwing down his cigarette and dragging his foot over it to extinguish the flame. Hancock immediately sunk down, his ears toning into the gurgling and heavy breathing of the intruder. Reaching behind him, the Mayor pulled out his long knife, holding it close.

Crossing the room with light footfalls, Hancock snuck around the wall. His eyes immediately targeted in on their intruder, it was just a feral ghoul who wandered in. While the intruder wouldn't have paid him any mind, it was a danger to Ruby. A danger that needed to be put down.

"Sorry pal." Hancock whispered.

The Mayor quickly jumped at the feral ghoul and dove his knife deep into the creatures skull. With precision, the creature slumped in his arms. Sighing softly, Hancock laid the creature gently down on the floor shaking his head.

"Poor bastard."

Looking over his shoulder, Hancock noticed a small worn out curtain laying on the floor. Grabbing the curtain, he draped it over the feral ghoul and took a step back. This poor ghoul couldn't help the way he turned out. Not ever knowing any of their back stories, Hancock was relatively sensitive to those who ruthlessly killed them. The Mayor knew they needed to be extinguished, yet he held a certain respect in doing so. They were human once, they had thoughts, friends and families once. They needed some kind of dignity, and if Hancock was going to be the one to give them that, then so be it.

Hancock slowly backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. Turning himself around he almost jumped to see the woman standing up in the middle of the room, her rifle pointed right at him. Damn the fact she woke up. He knew she was getting good sleep. She looked like she had been needing it.

"What was that?" The woman asked, her voice cracked.

"Nothin' to be worried about. I took care of it." Hancock waltzed passed her, slowly sinking back down to the floor next to his pack.

Ruby didn't seem to believe him. The woman curiously looked over towards the back room, hesitant to let the issue go, but if she was going to trust her partner, she needed to take his word and leave the issue. Biting at the back of her lip, she slowly lowered her gun to her side and turned back around to her sleeping bag. Slowly sinking down, she sat on her knees and tucked her feet under her, leaning back against the wall of the warehouse. Those dark eyes looked more tired then before, full of thought and worry. Placing her rifle down on the floor, Ruby turned herself, pulling the zipper on her backpack open. Seeing that the woman started digging furiously in her backpack, Hancock perked up, his curiosity growing at the woman's frustrations. Walking to the other side of the warehouse, he leaned against the wall, his head tipped. Ruby's face seemed to soften the moment she stopped thrashing around in her backpack. The woman pulled out a necklace, with it was a solitary golden ring. Hancock immediately knew what it was. The ring that belonged to her dead husband. She still wore the one she had, since the first day they met. The Mayor never tried to question why she hung onto it, nobody ever did.

"It's been several… months since I woke up from that damn vault." Ruby broke the silence.

Hancock didn't say a word, instead he was just going to let the Ruby speak her mind. It was good for her to get things out into the open.

"It… still feels so fresh.. Yet it happened so long ago.." Ruby choked up. The woman didn't say anymore. Quickly she slipped the ring back into her bag and sighed inwardly.

"Hey.. Look if you ever want to talk about anything. I'll listen." Hancock frowned.

"Thank you." Ruby's face slowly grew cold once more. Turning away from the bag, she slipped her feet out from under her and sat down on the floor.

Hancock didn't pressure the issue anymore. He allowed the woman to open up when she wanted. It wasn't his place to push her on any matter.

Ruby looked up at her partner, her dark eyes focusing on the form of the man that stood in front of her. She appreciated his support. Not knowing him for very long, he proved to be more caring then a lot of own family in her time. Not including the fact he had practically forgiven her over the whole warehouse break in. Not even seeming to blame her for it was even more surprising, even after all what was giving to her.

Feeling a sharp twinge in her face, the woman reached up and gently ran her fingers over the slow healing gashes on her face. She forgot to clean them earlier. A stupid move knowing that they could get easily infected. Standing quickly up to her feet. Ruby turned herself once more back to her bag and pulled out a bottle of water as well as a fairly clean rag.

"You wouldn't happen to have a large knife or something that I can use for a mirror can you?" Ruby gazed up at Hancock, a warm smile pulling at her cheeks.

"Erh.." Hancock paused. "Well I've got my knife but I haven't exactly… cleaned it lately." A small chuckle escaped.

"Hmm.. I need to clean these ugly gashes on my face. Otherwise I'll end up in a lot of trouble." Ruby laughed.

"Look sister, those gashes are ugly? Have you looked at my mug lately?" Hancock joked

"Oh.. Come on." Ruby wrinkled her nose, chuckling.

"I'll do it." Hancock offered.

"You sure?" Ruby raised her brows, a bit uncertain.

"I offered."

"Fine.. You can clean my face. Just be gentle." Ruby laughed once more

Ruby sat back down on her sleeping bag, tucking her legs under her once more. Hancock walked over and kneeled down in front of her, careful to not get to close. Taking the bottle of water and rag out from her hands, he poured the water onto the rag and began to gently pat at the gashes digging deep into her face. He could see a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"So.." Hancock paused.

"Hmm?"

"What's the story on these lovely looking cuts all over your face." The mayor continued to awkwardly pat at her face, careful to not hurt her.

Ruby took in a sigh and smiled a bit wider.

"I got in a fight with a Death Claw." She suddenly laughed, causing Hancock to pull his hand away from her face.

"Damn…fresh out of a vault and you decide to fight a Death claw." The mayor lowered his hands, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I was helping the Minutemen out, Preston was holed up, pointed me towards a suit of power armor and all of a sudden a Death Claw came out and decided to take me on. I didn't think it through and well.. Helmet was knocked off and I got these lovely babies. Claws dug right into my face." Ruby laughed.

The look of shock that had taken a hold of the Mayors face caused Ruby to laugh even more. Yet without saying a word, Hancock raised up his hands once more and started patting along Ruby's face, slowly shaking his head.

"You certainly can handle yourself sister." A smile slowly spread acrossed Hancock's face.

"I'm surprised I handled myself so well. I could see my husband surviving out here, not me." Ruby sighed.

"Yet you are the one alive." Hancock briefly stopped patting her face, gazing deep into the woman's dark brown hues. Ruby didn't say a word, only nodding in agreement, her own eyes getting caught up in Hancock's gaze.

"Well.. Uhm. How are we looking here?" Ruby asked, breaking the small tension.

"I say you are about as clean as its is goin' to get." Hancock smiled warmly, handing over the bottle and rag back to Ruby and immediately backing away from the woman, giving her space.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

#

"Hancock."

"Shoot."

"Shall we get going?" Ruby asked.

The Mayor found himself awkwardly slumped over against the side of the warehouse wall. He must of taken to much Jet and alcohol last night to remember falling asleep like that last night. Slowly leaning up, Hancock readjusted his tricorn hat and rolled his shoulders, feeling the tension ease away.

"Must' a been a good trip last night, considering I don't feel hung over." Hancock reached up, running his course fingers over his face.

"You didn't get high last night, or drunk." Ruby tipped her head.

"That is unheard of." Hancock muttered to himself.

"Yeah we just sat talking last night until you slowly drifted off. I didn't want to wake you so I just, well left you sleeping like that." Ruby shifted her weight to one leg. "Like I said, shall we get going? We've got a long trip ahead of us."

"Yeah, let me just, get my things an we can go." Hancock stood up, reaching down, he tossed his pack over his shoulder and turned himself, allowing Ruby to lead the way again. He figured since she had the Pipboy with the map, she could take lead on this small expedition.

Ruby walked over to the door of the warehouse and slowly opening the door. Her eyes darted down to her pip boy and then outward to the endless wastelands in front of her. Sighing contently. The woman was beginning to see where her life was leading her. She was alright with it. Despite losing her child and the very love of her life. Ruby felt like she was making a more positive impact on the Commonwealth now, then she did back in her time. It was the little things that made huge waves. By helping the Minutemen, Ruby knew she was going to help restore order and to hopefully bring peace back from all of the destruction.

 **Authors Note:**

 **Yay it's nice to have a chapter where I am not constantly jumping around from scene to scene. I hope you guys are enjoying my story thus far. I know where I want to take this story. Just realize the romance between Ruby and Hancock will be slow building but it'll be worth it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 4: Order Reborn**

The feeling of soft sand crunching underfoot was oddly satisfying. Gently jogging over to a rusted out chair and table, Ruby pulled her boots and socks off and carefully toed her way towards the edge of the water, hesitant. Immediately reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she reached in and pulled out a Rad-X. Popping it into her mouth, the woman turned her head to gaze back over at Hancock. The Mayor looked awfully confused at what the woman was doing barefoot on the beach. She seemed awfully giddy to be wanting to wade through that gross dirty water. Hancock stood a bit of a distance away from the water, pulling his tricorn hat over his eyes. The sun was way to bright for his liking. Walking over to one of the chairs, the Mayor sat down and looked out towards the water, not paying much attention to Ruby. The crashing of the water against the rocks seemed to lull the pair into a much needed break. One Ruby insisted they had taken after that long journey.

"Ugh, its been, what.. Two hundred years since I've last been to the ocean." Ruby joked, breaking the Mayor out of his day dream.

It was good to see Ruby bringing light to her situation. Ever since she broke down at the warehouse, the woman had seemed in more of an upbeat mood. Hancock kept his eyes covered with his hand, trying to block out as much of the bright sun light that he could. As much as he wanted to enjoy this moment as Ruby was, the light was stinging his eyes. Which was another good reason he had Ruby lead.

Ruby stood along the edge of the beach, letting the cool water wash over her bare feet. Trash littered the water so she was careful to remain in as much of the cleaner parts as she could, not wanting to risk cutting herself and adding more of a collection of scars then she needed. Turning her head around, she saw Hancock almost doubled over in the chair, his tricorn hat pushed down and covering his eyes.

"Hey.. You ok?" Ruby inquired, her thin brows raising up with her growing concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just all this sunshine and fresh air is a bit to much." Hancock laughed, still covering his eyes.

Walking over to the Mayor, Ruby stood in front of the light, blocking the blinding sun from his gaze. Hancock removed his hand over his eyes and pushed back the brim of his tricorn hat, a bright smile spreading acrossed his face.

"Want to head out?" Ruby asked

"Sure."

Ruby shifted her weight to one leg, digging her toes into the sand. Lifting up her left arm, she gazed down at her pip boy, pulling up at the map.

"The castle isn't to far from here. Shouldn't take much longer then an hour to get there." The woman sighed.

"Hmm." Hancock mumbled, standing up from his chair.

"I could use a long, long nap after all of this." she laughed

"Now that's something we can agree on, sister." Hancock pulled down his hat once more.

#

Kneeling down close to the wall, near the entrance of the castle, Ruby looked over to Hancock, her eyes widened. Holding her rifle close to her form, the woman shook her head and gave a weak laugh.

"This place is bigger then I had expected." she whispered.

"It's not empty either, I can hear things crawling around in there." Hancock whispered back to her, pointing towards the door.

"Ready?" Her brows rose.

"Let's do it." Hancock broke into a smile.

The pair snuck quietly inside the doors of the castle. Keeping an eye out, Ruby noticed several eggs dotting the floor of the castle. They looked like mirelark eggs. Mirelarks were one of the top few creatures Ruby detested fighting. They had tend to be very sneaky and put up a tough and long fight. If it wasn't for that hard shell they armored themselves in, it wouldn't of been so tedious to put them down. Ruby waved Hancock over to her position, the Mayor quickly noted and kneeled down by her side.

"Mirelurks." Ruby whispered.

"My favorite." Hancock shook his head.

"We need to clean this place out before I get a hold of Preston." Ruby turned herself, motioning at the eggs.

Not wasting time, Hancock immediately stood up and ran over to the nearest nest, leaving the woman behind. Ruby frowned and ran after the Mayor, her rifle held tight against her shoulder, her finger hovering over the trigger. Carefully the pair picked off egg by egg, adult by adult Mirelurks. Working as a well coerced team together. Ruby checked the perimeter often while Hancock charged ahead, to the next nest, to the next fight. It was a rule that you didn't waste your bullets on the Mirelarks by trying to pick down their health. You got close and shot them as many times in the face as possible before they keeled over and died. It was a dangerous and ruthless way of fighting, but it was the quickest way to get it done. Each time an adult scuttled close to Ruby, it was almost a dance of death. The Mirelurk would snap at her form, dodge then shoot. Rinse and repeat. Their pincers proved to have a nasty hit, so the less you got snapped and hit at the better off you were. Clearing out the perimeter inside the castle, it was now time to clear the outside. The woman took lead, and ran straight up one of the broken walls of the castle. The old fort had obviously taken its hits hard. Something she would have to end up fixing later, but that was the last of the woman's thoughts. Ruby gently trotted along the top of the wall, smashing the eggs of the mirelurks whenever she spotted them. Occasionally the eggs would crack open, spouting out younglings, but those were easy to dispose of.

Stopping in her tracks, the woman saw that there was just one more nest to clear out before the whole castle was free for the Minutemen. Ruby's heart almost felt overjoyed, it had been a large task and Hancock and her took it all on their own. Something she was going to be excited to share with Preston. The Minutemen were certainly going to benefit from this. Turning herself around, Ruby looked back at Hancock. She could tell the Mayor was tired, he normally carried himself tall and moved lightly on his feet. Yet his body had slowed him down, his eyes narrow from the bright sunlight, his shoulders slumped.

"Just one more nest." Ruby's called out to him, her voice soft.

Seeing Hancock give her half a smile, she knew he was going to appreciate the rest. Yet something didn't feel right. This fight was almost to easy for how many Mirelurks were present. The castle shifted under their feet, dust blew up from the center of the complex. Yet nothing was present to be making such a fuss, it worried the woman. It just wasn't right. Turning herself away from the Mayor, Ruby cautiously walked over to the last nest, taking her rifle, she pumped a good half clips worth into the nest, destroying the eggs.

The castle shifted again.

"Stay sharp." Ruby called out to Hancock, her face full of worry.

Hancock looked over at her and shook his head in confusion. Suddenly the castle shifted once more, the ground shaking violently. It caught the pair off guard and knocked them both down off the wall. A large creature burst forth from the nearby beach, skuttling over to the the center of the complex, growling loudly. Ruby immediately shot back up to her feet, running over to Hancock, she pulled the Mayor back up to his own feet by his arm.

"Get up! It's a queen!" Ruby begged.

Hancock's tired body refused to comply, struggling to get back up to his feet, he finally was able to stand with the woman's help. But it was too late. The pair was hit by a full blast of acid from the Mirelark queen.

"God… dammit! We need to get inside!" Ruby cried, feeling the acid burning at her skin.

The woman swore she would rather take another hit from a Death Claw in the face then get hit by another blast of the queen's acid. Feeling her eyes stinging, her sinuses burned, the woman dragged the near unconscious Ghoul inside of the castle's walls. At least then it would offer some protection from the queen's foul spray. Pulling out a stim, Ruby quickly stabbed it into Hancock's shoulder, knowing he would benefit from it later. Dropping the stim onto the ground, she looked back at him sitting on the ground. Hancock's shotgun was loosely cradled in his hands, tricorn hat was crooked, his eyes looking far off into the distance. At least he was going to stay alive. It was just upto Ruby to take down the creature herself.

Sighing inwardly, Ruby immediately sunk down low to the ground, peering just barely around the corner of the doorway, she saw the Mirelurk queen snapping her vicious head around, trying to look for the intruders. Aiming at the queen's face, Ruby immediately snapped up to her feet and started loading clip after clip of bullet's into the queen's face. Yet the foul beast wouldn't fall. Turning her large body around, the queen skuttled quickly over to Ruby's small form, her mouth snapping open and spraying the woman yet again with another full jet of acid.

Ruby felt it all hit at once, the acid ate at her skin, her eyes tearing up. Coughing, the woman fell back inside the walls of the castle. She could hear the queen hissing, angry that she couldn't reach the intruders. Ruby slowly backed up against the far wall, wiping her hands over her burning eyes. It did no good but only spread more acid into her eyes. Tears streamed down the woman's face. Reaching into her pant's pocket, Ruby pulled out yet another stim and hit herself in the shoulder. Yet at that moment, the pain had dulled, her skin didn't burn so much. Shaking her head, Ruby took a deep breath in then ran back towards the door.

Peaking out, Ruby aimed once more at the queen's face. That one moment was all she needed to just unload another clip into the creature's skull. Holding her breath, Ruby stepped out, her finger pulled the trigger and the bullet's flew at the queen. It was like time and slowed down. Ruby remained focused and sharp. The queen's skull burst open and her large body quickly keeled over, twitching.

That was it, Ruby killed the damn queen. All without getting anyone killed.

"Damn.." she whispered.

Dropping her rifle down to the ground, Ruby no longer cared. Turning herself around she whipped her face off once more, the woman made her way back inside the castle. Hancock was still sitting on the floor, yet he was a bit more coherent then just moment's before.

"You look like crap." Hancock cracked a dry joke.

"You really arent one to speak. Mr Mayor." Ruby laughed.

Kneeling down by the Mayor's side, Ruby gazed him over, making sure he wasn't injured from the fall.

"How do you feel." Ruby's voice dropped.

"You saved my life." Hancock tipped his head, his own voice dropping to a lower octave.

"That's not…what I asked, how do you feel." Ruby brushed him off, more concerned about the state of his health.

"I'm alive aren't I?" Hancock shot Ruby a smile.

"Hot head." Ruby shoved his shoulder and slowly stood up. The lingering effects of the acid began to wore off. The stim had helped with that. Running her hands over her eyes, Ruby took in a deep breath. This was only the beginning, this was really the first step that needed to be taken to restore order, to restore peace. Ruby knew that and she was proud of it.

 **Authors Note:**

 **I just want to thank everyone for the views, follows and comments I've been receiving. Each of those means a lot to me. Hope you have enjoyed it thus far!**


	5. Chapter 5

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 5: Rebuilding from ashes**

Kicking up her feet on the coffee table, Ruby leaned back against her couch and leaned her head back, her dark eyes gazing up at the rusted out ceiling. Taking over the Castle had put in many favors with Preston and certainly was going to help the Minutemen set back up. The woman was taking a much needed break from her duties. Being back at Sanctuary was always a little disconcerting towards Ruby. She sat in the very couch that once was used by her family. The very couch she would cuddle up to Nate on, the very couch she would watch the news and unwind. Yet here she was two hundred years later, relaxing on the very same couch. Closing her heavy eyes, Ruby took in a deep breath and yawned softly, all of the muscles in her body relaxing. Granted it wasn't an ideal place to try and take a short nap, it was certainly better then a lot of the floors she had briefly called home.

"Miss Ruby.." A voice snapped the woman's attentions back to the present. Leaning her head up, Ruby gazed over her shoulder, seeing Codsworth just floating outside the door. He really only called her by her name if he had wanted to get her attention.

"Yes Codsworth?"

The Mr. Handy drifted inside the old worn down house. Just floating in front of Ruby, Codsworth's eye lenses focused in on her form, raising his clamp.

"I do hope your travels with the Mayor went well at the Castle. He told me you two fought a Mirelurk queen." Codsworth pressed.

Ruby knew Codsworth meant well by asking. He had always wondered how her travels went whenever she left him back home. He was family to her after all. The woman's dark eyes closed and a small smile spread acrossed her pale cheeks.

"It was a tough fight Cods, I won't lie.." Ruby paused. "But we got the castle back for the Minutemen. I cannot complain about that."

"Well certainly not!" Codsworth exclaimed. "You helped the Minutemen tremendously. I am most sure Mr. Garvey appreciates all that you have done for him."

Ruby smiled. Codsworth sure had a unique way of raising the woman's mood. Whenever she was feeling tired, he always came to pick her spirits back up. Ruby was thankful for that and would never take it for granted. He started off just being a robot to be that extra pair of hands around the house. Yet he ended up turning into the only family Ruby really had left and one of the best friends she could ask for.

"I appreciate it Codsworth." Ruby's voice strained.

Ruby leaned up on the couch, reaching out, she carefully touched the side of one of Codworth's eye stocks. Giving him a warm smile. Standing up, the woman slowly dragged herself out of her old tired looking house, Codsworth following closely.

"Miss Ruby.." Codsworth inquired again.

"Yes Codsworth?" Ruby turned her head, watching the bot bobble around, his arms pulling tight to his body.

"Mr. Garvey wished to speak with you when you had the chance."

"Alright, I'll go see what he has to say." Smiling once more, Ruby dug her hands into her pockets and began to walk down the broken street. Her boots dragging along the worn pavement.

So much of this world had changed. The way people handled their business, talked to each other, made friends. Everyone had to be on guard. With the threat of the Institute taking loved ones away and replacing them with Synth's, everyone was so distrustful. Ruby heard the occasional story of loved ones turning on their own families just because they had been suspected of being a Synth. None of this made sense to Ruby. Why would the Institute would go out of their way to replace the very people of the Commonwealth with just a Synth copy. What motive did they have? What good would it do? From what Ruby had seen in Synth's. A good example being Nick, they had just as much free will as any other being wondering around in the Wasteland. Nick had just as much emotion, heart and passion as any other human Ruby had known. It didn't make him any different. These thoughts drummed in her head until she found Preston talking with one of the settlers of Sanctuary. Waiting for him to finish his conversation, the woman closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath of the stale air.

"General, good to see you. May we talk?" Preston snapped Ruby out of silence.

"Yes, what do you need?" Ruby walked over to his side, placing her hand on her hip.

"I got word of a possible settlement just east of here. It's called Sunshine Tidings. I think it would be a good place to help these people out. Go over there and check things out. Let me know how it goes." Preston gazed over at Ruby.

Sighing softly, the woman nodded. "Got it, clear it out."

Backing away from Preston, Ruby turned herself back down the street. It hadn't been very long since Ruby and Hancock got back from taking over the Castle, now she was suggested.. more like ordered to take over a new settlement. Such was the life of being General. Sliding her hands back into the pockets of her leather jacket, Ruby sauntered down the road, her dark hues gazing around to see if she could catch Hancock, wondering if he would want to tag along. If not the woman could always take Valentine. Ruby couldn't complain about who traveled with her, but she was beginning to find Hancock a joy to be around. He humored her, told her jokes and kept the mood light. He didn't try to pick little pieces of her past up, something she found her other companions doing. The woman stopped in her tracks, her dark hues glanced up at the night sky. The stars twinkled and glowed, she found them so entrancing and mystical. The woman's ear caught the sound of light footfalls stepping up to her side. Glancing back over to her side, her hues caught the sight of that now familiar red frock. It was Hancock.

"You know.. Back in my time, we had so many things lighting up the night you could hardly see the stars." Ruby's tone was soft.

"Couldn't imagine." Hancock's own raspy voice barely graced over a whisper.

Ruby turned herself towards the Mayor, her dark hues searching his face. A sheepish smile tugged at the sides of her lips, smirking stupidly.

"I'm heading South to set up a new settlement, do you wish to travel together?" Ruby inquired.

"You even got to ask? Damn right I am." Hancock's voice dropped a bit.

The answer caught Ruby off guard. Was he just as happy to travel along with her as she was with him? The woman knew that he was restless to just get out of Good Neighbor, yet despite nearly getting him killed at the Castle, she thought the Ghoul would of just been happier hanging around Sanctuary for awhile until he got another 'itch' as he put it. Though Ruby decided to not press any further with the thought. One didn't question another's motives if they were just as excited to travel along with you as they had presented. Being a former lawyer, Ruby could spot when someone was hesitant or had a second motive. Undying excitement was a sure sign they were not planning something stupid, well not immediately. The woman had begun to trust the Mayor. He hadn't given her a reason to mistrust him. Even with his occasional chem use, he still remained sharp minded and ready to fight. She didn't judge him for his life style. She would wave off the occasional chem he offered her or pocket it to sell later. Hancock knew this, but never judged her on the choices she made either. You lived the life you made for yourself.

Ruby's dark hues slowly glanced back up at the stars, her body catching a shiver from the briskness of the night air. In a split moment, Ruby felt hands graze over her shoulders, her hues shot over to see her companion draping his red frock over her shoulders and slowly backing away from her, an innocent smirk spread acrossed the mayor's face. Reaching up, Ruby slipped her fingers over the sides of the frock and pulled it tighter around her small frame. His coat seemed a lot better to hold in the warmth then the leather jacket she pulled off a dead raider.

"Thanks." Ruby whispered.

"No problem, you looked like you needed it." Hancock's smile grew just a bit wider.

#

Ruby jolted out of her sleeping bag, almost flying right up to her feet. Dizziness overwhelmed the woman, so she slowly leaned back up against the wall of the cabin. Feeling the blood pound in her head, Ruby reached up and rubbed her temples until it eased off. Sighing softly, the woman slowly raised her head, her companion's sleeping bag was empty. The thin brows on Ruby's gashed up forehead slowly knitted together in a frown. Turning herself, she slipped each foot into a boot and quickly laced them up. Taking a few steps, Ruby gazed outside. The early sun had just began to peak from behind the clouds. It was foggy outside, quiet. Not unlike those cool Septembers she remembered back in her time. The trees would still be lush with green leaves, the occasional yellow leaf bustling in the wind with the others. The birds would sing, just as the sun began to peak out from the horizon. Yet this world was dead, no leaves, no birds, no singing. Just the fog and the sun. Feeling her heart sink a bit at the thought, Ruby turned herself to grab her rifle when she caught a glimpse of Hancock's red frock. Her face immediately relaxed. He was leaning against the wall on the far side of the cabin. The wind carried up puffs of smoke he exhaled from his cigarette.

The woman's light foot falls broke Hancock out of his quiet thought. Hearing her approach him, the Mayor dropped his cigarette down onto the ground and extinguished it with his foot. Turning his head, his hues caught the gaze of Ruby's own dark eyes. The woman took a gentle step off the front balcony of the cabin, her lips pulling into a warm smile.

"So what's the plan today?" Hancock tipped his head.

"Start gathering supplies. I'd like to get everything going before we set up the beacon. Nothing like having angry settlers because they have to.. Sleep on the floor, heaven forbid." Ruby laughed.

"Aint that right." Hancock gazed at Ruby, for one quick moment, the woman caught herself gawking back at the mayor. Clearing her throat, she ran her hand over her face, her fingers gently brushing over the gashes.

"You need help with those?" Hancock offered.

"Later, after work is done." Ruby lowered her hand and slowly backed away from the Mayor. A stupid smile growing acrossed her cheeks.

Hancock leaned back against the side of the cabin once more, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The Ghoul tipped his head as he watched the small woman awkwardly back away and slowly disappear into the near brushes. The way she would brush him off was cute… wait.. Did he think she was cute? Of course she was cute, no… more then cute, she was gorgeous. A fine striking woman know certainly knew how to carry herself in battle. Yet despite her beauty, it wasn't what he found attractive about her. The way Ruby was able to practically break down any normal piece of junk and was able to rebuild it into a functioning gun turret had blown his mind. Not many had the talent to do that, which was probably the reason why Preston made her General. Pulling himself off the side of the cabin, Hancock dropped his arms to his sides and began to wander into the center of the new settlement. It was fairly large in size, Many cabins dotted the perimeter and a large barn called home in the center of the camp. He could see why Preston had called them over to set up here. His hues caught sight of Ruby, lugging an armful of wood over to the work bench and throwing the branches down on the ground. Smiling weakly, the ghoul walked over to her side.

"Need help?" he offered.

"All the help I can get." She panted, beads of sweat rolling down her temples.

 **Authors Note:**

 **Hey all, just sort of a filler chapter. Thank you for sticking around. I promise you things will start picking up soon :D Until then happy reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 6: Streams to Rivers**

The woman was sitting on the edge of the cabin balcony, one foot tucked up under her, the other freely swinging back and forth. Her leather coat lay inside next to her sleeping bag. Ruby's hair lay matted to her head, her eyes bloodshot. Absently reaching over for the bottle of rum she snagged earlier. The woman's small fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle gripping it tight. With one fluid motion, she raised the bottle to her lips and took in a deep swig of rum, her face immediately cringing as she forced herself to swallow the foul contents. Lowering the bottle back down on the floor, her body tingled, growing in warmth as the alcohol swirled in her system. Her shoulders and back ached, despite Hancock offering her some chems to help her relax, Ruby just refused and decided to get drunk instead. The woman would rather drink her liver dry then try something she had no way of knowing what it would do to her. Yet the Ghoul never pressed or judged.

Hearing footfalls on the balcony, Ruby turned her head to see who her company was. That red frock coat stuck out to her, as always. Hancock was always easy to spot. Yet the Mayor could be awfully sneaky if he wanted to be.

"Drunk yet?" Hancock smiled, kneeling down by the woman's side.

"No, just buzzed. It'll take a lot more to get me drunk." she laughed. "Besides I need to wash up first before I get to that point."

"Understood.."

"Speaking of, there is a water fall just north of here. I was thinking about.. Uh.. Checking it.. Out." Ruby prolonged her sentence.

"I'm guessing you want me to come along so the boogeyman to get'cha." Hancock joked.

"Only if you don't peek." Ruby nudged his shoulder.

"Fair enough, sister." Hancock stood back up to his feet, offering his hand out to Ruby.

Raising one brow, the woman reached out and slipped her hand into his, pulling herself up with his help. Once she was back up on her feet, Ruby slipped her hand out of his palm and walked over to her pack. Unzipping it, the woman grabbed a fresher pair of cloths and snaked her feet right into her boots. Stepping over to Hancock's side, she gave him a bright smile, to which he returned.

"Shall we?" She inquired.

"Certainly."

#

It didn't take long for the pair to find the waterfall. It was hard to miss due to the loud roaring of the water flying down the rocks and hitting the small lake below. Ruby ran over to the side of the lake, finding a clear spot the woman kicked off her boots and dropped her cloths down on the rocks beside her. It had been a good amount of time since the woman took any semblance of a shower. She was sure her companion didn't care about the state of her cleanliness but Ruby sure took some small joy in still feeling somewhat clean and normal. It was one of the few things she still held onto in this day and age. The woman began unbuttoning her pants when she immediately hesitated. Turning her head over her shoulder she gazed back over at Hancock, who promptly found himself a spot to sit down at, facing away from the lake.. Impressive. Smiling warmly, Ruby pulled off her pants and laid them down on the rock, followed by her shirt. Keeping her undergarments on for decency, the woman took two small steps into the small lake, feeling the temperature of the water. Of course the water was cold, but it felt good against her hot grimy skin. It was all the woman could do from completely emerging herself into the lake. Her pipboy wasn't screaming about radiation from the water, and no trash had collected around the bank. Ruby was sure it couldn't get more perfect than this. Then it was like a flash of lightning had erupted from the ground. A large soft-shelled mirelurk snapped up in front of the woman catching her by surprise. Cursing at herself, Ruby immediately backed away from the hissing creature.

"Uh.. Hancock.. I forgot my rifle… HANCOCK.." Ruby shouted.

In a swooping motion, the Mayor stood up from his spot and nearly flew down the small embankment, his arm reached out and nudged Ruby back behind him. Ignoring the fact that she was practically naked, Hancock aimed right at the mirelurks face and started unloading shells into the poor creature's flesh. In two clicks the creature fell over, its body stiffening as it died.

"Dammit I should of known better." Ruby hissed, her arms resting on her hips. Small rivulets of water dripped down off of her form. Hancock turned himself around and gave her a sheepish grin.

"That's why you have me around."

"Shhhh…" Ruby reached up and placed her finger over the Mayor's lips, hushing him. She didn't need to have the Ghoul inflating his own ego.

"That only makes us even." Ruby gave Hancock a snarky grin just before she lowered her hand.

"Damn.." Hancock muttered.

Walking around the mirelurk's dead corpse. Ruby gave up on the notion of keeping herself out of the Mayor's sight. He had already seen her, so what more was going to hurt. Not wasting anymore time, Ruby stepped quickly under the water fall, allowing the water to flow over her thin form, washing away the grime she built up earlier in the day. Raking her finger's through her hair, Ruby slowly untangled the mess that had knotted her hair up. The cool water felt good on her healing gashes. Hell it felt good everywhere. Wiping her face, she pulled herself out from the waterfall and swam into the lake once more, keeping a close eye out on anymore lurking mirelurks around. Hancock was sitting on a rock near the embankment, his dark hues gazing over at Ruby. He almost looked entertained.

"Why don't you come on in, the water feels great!" Ruby called out to him, half jokingly.

"As much as I'd love to join you, the smell of wet ghoul aint pleasant." Hancock laughed..

"Come here.." Ruby beckoned him.

"Oh?" Hancock's brows raised. Peeking his curiosity, The Mayor stood up and walked over to the side of the lake, kneeling down he tipped his head a bit, wondering what the woman could possibly want.

Swimming over to the side, Ruby pulled herself close to Hancock, biting her bottom lip, she pulled herself in close to his lips, her own just barely grazing his. Hancock almost stopped breathing, he wasn't expecting Ruby to kiss him, and just moments away from planting a kiss on her lips, he was met with a face full of water, Ruby splashed him. Falling back against the embankment, the Mayor whipped his wet face off with his sleeve, almost cursing, yet to hear the shrill laugh coming from Ruby had broke the small amount of frustration he held.

"Gotcha.." Ruby giggled.

"Next time you come callin' for me, love, I wont be running." Hancock tried sounding serious, but immediately broke into laughter. She had got him good.

Ruby smiled brightly at Hancock. Her certainly was a trooper for having to endure that. She knew Nick or even Preston wouldn't of put up with that. Swimming back over to the embankment, Ruby pulled herself out of the lake and ran her fingers back over her face, rubbing her eyes and whipping the water away from them. The sun was beginning to settle so it wasn't going to take long for the air to get cold. Running her fingers over her wet hair, she squeezed her tresses to ring the water out and shook her arms. Stupidly she didn't think of bringing something to dry herself off with. The last thing she wanted to use was her grimy cloths.

It was as if Hancock was reading her mind. Walking over to her thin form, he draped his red frock over the woman's bare shoulders and gave her a weak smile, knowing she would appreciate it. It was like Ruby was never thinking it through. She was constantly cold. It didn't bother Hancock though, he would always offer his coat up for her if she needed it. The woman grasped at his coat, shuffling over to the small beach, she grabbed her cloths and slipped her feet back into her boots. Turning herself around, the woman's hues gazed back over at Hancock. He was standing over along the side of the small lake, looking outward, obviously deep in thought.

"Hancock.." Ruby called out to him.

"Shoot."

"What's up?" Ruby inquired.

"I'll tell you once we get back up to the cabin." Hancock smiled brightly at her.

#

Ruby sat down along the balcony of their temporary home, once again donning a full set of clean cloths, yet she refused to take off Hancock's frock. The night was quickly becoming brisk and she refused to go inside. Tucking her bare feet under her, Ruby reached over to her bottle of rum but instead of taking a deep swig of it she only cradled the bottle in her small hands, her thoughts running over what Hancock possibly wanted to tell her. Seeing him approach her, she turned her head those dark hues curiously gazing up at the Ghoul's form. Hancock stepped up to her side and slowly sank down to the floor, sitting next to Ruby. Reaching over, the Mayor slipped his hand around the neck of the bottle of rum and took it out of Ruby's hands. The woman felt apart of her yearn for the alcohol, but she was needing to keep a clear mind. Only later would she drown herself in alcohol's wonderful embrace.

"That lake back their sure brought back a lot of memories." Hancock broke the silence.

Ruby's brows rose, causing a slight wrinkle of her forehead. "Such as?" She inquired.

"My brother.. McDonough and I used to live in a little shack on a lake. Much like the one back there." Hancock sighed.

"Wait.. Your brother is the Mayor of Diamond City?" Ruby's eyes grew wide. Not even guessing the two were even related.

"Yeah.. He was the typical big brother growing up. Smashed tatos down my shirt, laughed and called me names. It was all very typical until one day he caused a mass exodus of Ghouls out of Diamond City." Hancock dipped his head.

Growing concerned, Ruby raised her hand up, placing it supportingly on his shoulder.

"Never forgave that bastard. So I ran away to Goodneighbor and never returned." Hancock sighed.

"Hancock.. I'm so sorry.." Ruby gazed deep into his hues.

"Not your fault sister. It's just that lake back there reminded me of the man he used to be." his voice grew strained.

Ruby turned herself towards him and pulled the Mayor into a warm embrace, holding him close. She could feel him shudder, trying to keep the tears at bay. Reaching up, the woman slowly removed his tricorn hat and placed it down on the floor beside them. Laying her head down on the top of his, she held him close, feeling him relax in her arms. Hancock wrapped his own arms around her, giving her a tight hug.

Slowly the two pulled apart from their hug and Hancock reached back over, placing his hat back on his bald head. Giving her a weak smile Hancock nodded.

"Thanks." he whispered.

"It's what I'm here for." Ruby tipped her head, returning the smile.

"I don't think I could ask for a better friend." Hancock gave her a brighter smile.

"Me too."

 **Authors Note:**

 **Thank you everyone for the views, follows, and general love. You guys are awesome. Just a heads up this romance will be beginning to pick up the next few chapters. Sorry for the slow wait but it will certainly be worth it! Relationships with Ruby don't happen over night!**


	7. Chapter 7

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 7: Rivers to Lakes**

Here she was, Ruby was beginning to feel herself grow restless. Laying in her bed, alone inside the very house she used to call home. Now it no longer felt like home. Her family was gone. Everything was gone, but her. Her fingers slowly reached up to the gashes on her face. They grew itchy, everything felt itchy. Was this the itch Hancock had talked about? Not so much a physical problem, but more of a mental one. The feelings of restlessness, lack of sleep, everything tingling. It was beginning to drive her nuts. Throwing her covers off of her small frame, Ruby stood up from the bed and slipped a pair of shoes onto her feet. Not bothering with the laces, Ruby dragged herself out of her room and sauntered out of her old house. The gentle breeze causing the raw metal to creak and groan. The woman certainly needed a better set up eventually. Perhaps Ruby just needed to take a walk. She felt like to much was floating around in her brain, to much that wasn't allowing her to rest. Ever waking moment she spent up when she should have been sleeping was another chance Nick could use to yell at her about it. Yet instead of deciding to avoid the old bot in hopes he wouldn't scold her on her poor choices. She decided to seek him out, talk with him and hopefully ease her mind.

Ruby made sure to keep her footfalls quiet in respect for everyone sleeping. Her hues gazed around the neighborhood, it wasn't until she caught a soft glow coming from one of the sides of an empty house. That glow from the cigarette lit just bright enough to show the outline of Nick's trilby hat.

"Gotcha.." Ruby whispered to herself.

Nick wasn't one to really want to sit around in one place for to long. The old detective often found himself sitting on one chair then migrating to the wall to lean up against, back to another chair. Ruby wondered why Nick always seemed so anxious. The Synth immediately caught the movement of Ruby's small frame and pulled himself off the wall of the house. Taking a long drag of his cigarette, he lowered it, blowing the smoke out slowly. Those golden eyes piercing the darkness, right at Ruby. Holding in a sigh, Ruby slowly stepped out of the shadows and up to Nick.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping? It's rather late." Nick lightly frowned.

"I.. cant sleep actually." Ruby sighed.

"Something on your mind?" Nick's tone softened immediately.

"A lot, I feel on edge, perhaps a bit confused." Ruby leaned up against the side of the house, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Well don't keep me in suspense."

Ruby sighed once again. Closing her eyes she reached up with both of her hands and rubbed her temples, some of her dark hair draping down into her face. Dropping her left arm to her side, Ruby raked her fingers into her hair and pulled it back out of her face biting at the back of her lip. She felt uncomfortable.

"Your gashes are healing nicely Ruby." Nick broke the silence. This was an old detectives tactic he commonly used whenever someone was nervous. You broke the silence with an off hand comment, get their mind off of whatever was that was bothering them. Hopefully then they would relax enough to speak.

Ruby subconsciously reached up and touched one of the gashes on her cheek. She hated the way it made her face look, but this was who she was now. There was nothing she could do to change it. And with that the tactic worked. Ruby nerves had sizzled. Looking up at Nick, her dark hues searched his golden eyes.

"It feels like I'm doing something wrong, you know. It feels like I've been disrespecting my late husband by.. By feeling this way." Ruby finally broke her silence.

"How so." Nick gently pressed.

"Since my travels with Hancock, I've noticed that I've been growing a fondness for him. I mean I didn't really plan to be attracted to the guy, or let alone anyone when I came out of that damn Vault.. I mean.. I.." Ruby's brows rose up, searching Nick's glowing hues for any type of answer.

Nick's hand lifted back up to his mouth, taking another short drag of the cigarette before it lowered back down, The old detective looked down at the ground briefly before back at Ruby, yet he didn't answer quite yet. He knew she had more on her mind.

"I.. I mean do I spend my time and energy dedicated to finding Shaun or do I allow myself to live life a little.. I.. I don't know what to do.." She sighed, her arms crossing once more over her chest.

"I think you have to answer that on your own Ruby, You won't be disrespecting your dead husband by allowing yourself to live your life. It is up to you, how you want to spend that energy. That is a choice you make on yourself. Just know that none of those are the wrong choice." Nick reached up and placed a supporting hand on the woman's shoulder, a small smile spreading acrossed the Synth's worn face. He could see the worry melting away on Ruby's face. Her eyes looked more quiet.

"Thanks' Nick.. You certainly know what to say." Ruby chuckled.

"Anytime." Nick gently patted Ruby's shoulder, then pulled his hand away.

Ruby gave Nick a gentle wave goodnight and turned herself away from him. Burying her hands into her jacket. She stopped in her tracks on the broken pavement, her dark hues closing for a moment. Taking in a deep breath, the woman once again opened her eyes and dragged herself back to her house. Slipping into the doorway, she closed it behind her. Her hands reached up and zipped off her leather jacket and tossed it over her worn down couch. With a clear mind, Ruby could feel sleep tugging at her, beckoning her to go back to bed. Using her hands to keep her stable, the woman stumbled over to her room and slid into bed. Her eyes growing heavy just moments before she dozed off into a deep sleep.

#

The sun just barely peeked over the horizon, but at the right angle a beam of light hit Ruby right in the eye. Immediately flipping over in bed, the woman reached up, absently rubbing her eyes. Half expecting for Codsworth to come floating into her room, Ruby leaned up, slowly pulling the tangled blanket off of her legs. Frowning softly, her feet hit the cold floor, a shiver ran up her back. It was still awfully brisk outside. Ruby had hoped she would of gotten a bit more sleep this morning. That not being the case, Ruby slipped her feet inside her boots. Still feeling barely conscious, the woman shuffled herself out of her room, rubbing one hue with the palm of her hand. With that same hand, Ruby brushed some stray tresses of hair out of her pale face. Yet she was immediately met with the gaze of someone in her living room.

This someone wasn't Codsworth like she had been expecting, but actually Hancock. The Mayor had made himself at home, on her couch. It was to early for her to really want to interact with anyone other then her robot. The last person she honestly wanted to see was Hancock. She looked like a mess and hadn't even prepared herself for what she would say to him, if she even decided to tell him of her growing feelings. Yet despite all of this, the way Hancock brightly smiled at her, his dark eyes welcoming and warm had slowly changed her mind on that last thought.

"Good morning, sunshine." Hancock pushed back the front of his tricorn hat a bit. That Ghoul's smile growing even wider.

Ruby couldn't help herself from chuckling softly. Damn the fact he was so fucking charming. Brushing off his compliment, Ruby waved her hand.

"Hardly sunshine. More like a roasted Brahmin." Ruby cackled.

"Hey now. I call it how I see 'em." Hancock's voice tightened, almost sounding offended.

Yet that smile never left the Mayor's face. Ruby walked over to the counter in her kitchen, leaning up against it. Her dark hues darted over to the sink. She still remembered the day the bombs fell. It was quiet, Nate had teased her about wanting to go to the park again. Shaun wouldn't stop crying and Codsworth had done all he could to help. Yet the news came, and her world shattered. Pulling herself away from the thought, Ruby drummed her fingers against the counter just briefly before pushing herself off of it.

"I need to get out of here." Ruby muttered, only loud enough Hancock could hear.

"What do you mean?" Hancock stood up, his brows raising. Walking over to Ruby's side, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ruby didn't immediately respond. Breathing slowly in, her dark hues gazed up at the Mayor, searching his face for any answer, any clue. What did she want in her life? Ruby didn't know for sure. She just needed to get out of Sanctuary and settle in a new home. Somewhere far away, perhaps closer to the castle. It just needed to be far away from her old home and her old life and her old memories.

"I'm tired of living here Hancock. Seeing everything in this state has been.. Hard on me. I think settling somewhere else will help me move forward." Ruby broke her silence.

Hancock pulled his hand away from his shoulder and crossed his arms in front of him, leaning against the kitchen counter. A dopey grin grew acrossed his face, his eyes inviting.

"Well.. You could always live in Goodneighbor." He suggested.

"I'd.. love to take you up on that offer, but I'm looking for more of a place all of the companions I've been dragging around with me can also call home." Ruby raised her brow.

"I hear you." Hancock almost looked a bit disappointed. Pulling away from the counter, he moved closer to the couch, obviously debating if he wanted to sit down or remain standing.

"Your not.. leaving are you?" Ruby blurted.

Ruby then heard a deep laugh escape the Mayor's lips. "No.. no I aint skipping out on you."

"Oh.. Good." She muttered to herself in relief.

"So… where are you thinking about setting up camp?" Hancock turned himself, a bright smile had spread acrossed his face once more.

"Kingsport Lighthouse." Ruby beamed.

"Want me to come?"

"Of course!"


	8. Chapter 8

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 8: A life saved, a life owed**

Hancock hid behind one of the supporting walls of the wrecked house. Slipping a hand into his coat pocket the Mayor wrapped his fingers around a small canister of jet and held it up to his mouth. Taking in a short burst of the chem. He snuck it back into his pocket and jumped out from behind the wall, firing his shotgun right into the face of his enemy. Time had slowed down just enough for him to take down not only one Child of Atom, but two consecutively after the first. Seeing Ruby run by him in slow motion, her dark eyes full of determination and a unique fire he hadn't remembered seeing before from her. The woman ran up the stairs, her rifle held tightly against her shoulder. She sure knew how to handle herself.

Her breath hitched, there was two more children of atom hiding up on the second floor of the house. Keeping her head low, she couldn't risk taking another shot from their radiation guns. Ruby didn't plan on bringing any sort of prevention when it came to the radiation, hell she didn't even anticipate on the children of atom having any type of radiation guns to begin with. Hearing her giger counter on her pipboy starting to click, Ruby ran up the remainder of the stairs. Taking aim with her rifle, she started firing at one of the radicals, yet it was like they had known she was there. Missing her shot, the radical dodged from her aim, both priming their guns and hitting her with multiple waves of gamma radiation. Everything burned, it burned far worse then the acid from the mirelurk queen. Yet keeping what remainder of the strength left in her body, she aimed right at the radical's head. Squeezing the trigger, the woman's body began to shudder, missing her shot yet again. Time had seemingly slowed down, Ruby was beginning to feel awfully ill from the excess radiation being shot right into her body. Her vision began to blur and fade, yet moments before turning black she saw that red frock coat running past her and shoot the radicals dead with sharp accuracy.

Hancock straightened himself up, holstering his shotgun. Hearing a thump behind him, the Mayor turned around to see Ruby laying on the floor passed out. The woman's pipboy clicking due to the high amounts of radiation. The Mayor felt panic washing over him. He never had to worry about radiation, yet it never dawned on him that his partner would. Rushing over to her side. Hancock picked up the woman's small form and carried her down the stairs. He noted her backpack sitting by the edge of the stairs. Slowly kneeling down to the floor, Hancock cradled the woman close to him.

"Shit…" Hancock hissed to himself.

Reaching out, he pulled the backpack over to the both of them, and flipped back the flap, undoing the strings, he dug into her bag, looking for anything to at least bring down the radiation levels low enough it wouldn't kill her. Ruby seemingly only packed a bunch of Stims. Hissing at her poor level of planning, the Mayor started frantically pulling out items in her bag. Her old vault suit hit the floor, followed by multiple stims. Then there it was, exactly what he was looking for, a bag of rad-away.

"That a girl." Hancock weakly smiled.

Hancock took in a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. Reaching into one his pockets, the Mayor pulled out a clean syringe. He always carried a few with him in case he needed a chem break. Though the time for those had been more far and few between. Occasionally he would pop a mentat or take a shot of jet to ease his mind. Half the chems he did was just out of pure boredom. Ruby had a good way of keeping him busy so he didn't feel the need to sit around and get high as often as he used to. Keeping Ruby cradled up against his chest, Hancock held up the bag of Rad-Away and pulled some of the fluid into the syringe. Knocking it a few times with his finger, Hancock reached over to the woman's arm and pressed around until he felt her vein. It was a lovely vein, stuck out angry in plain view. Lucky woman. Smiling to himself, Hancock pressed the cold needle into her arm and injected the Rad-away right into her vein. Pulling out the syringe, he placed it down on the floor next to him, holding the woman close to his chest. She felt awfully cold.

"You better not die on me." Hancock frowned. "You turning Ghoul would be fine.. But you better not die."

Ruby remained unresponsive, her body limp in the Mayor's arms. Hancock pulled his arm under her knees and back cradling her close. Slowly standing up to his feet, he carried the woman's light frame over to the couch and placed her down. Seeing the woman shiver, Hancock slipped his arms out of his red frock and draped it over the woman's frame. Reaching down, he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, his index finger pressing against it. He could feel her pulse, it was racing. Not good.

"Damn, you're stronger than this!" Hancock hissed.

There was no use getting angry, not now. Not when she needed him to be clear minded and not upset. Turning himself around he walked back over to her backpack, kneeling down the Mayor picked up a stim knowing it would help, even a little would be better then nothing. Turning himself back around, Hancock stepped back over to the couch and crouched down beside it. Once more taking Ruby's arm, he injected the stim right into that lovely vein of hers. Sighing deeply, Hancock placed the stim down on the table and took the woman's hand into both of his, his fingers closing around it. He could slowly feel the warmth spreading back into her skin.

"What happened?" Ruby whispered.

"You took on to much rads, love." Hancock laughed softly.

"You saved my life." Ruby reached up with her free hand and ran her fingers over her eyes.

"Two on you, you owe me now." Hancock joked once more.

"I didn't realize this was a competition." Ruby cracked a smile.

"You need to rest, I'll get you later." Hancock gently let go of Ruby's hand and gave her a warm smile. Standing up he pulled himself reluctantly away from the couch and gave her once more look over before leaving the house.

#

Ruby laid flat on the couch, feeling rather exhausted and a bit sick. The last she remembered was getting hit by a whole bunch of radiation and passing out. Yet she remembered seeing that red frock shoot down the radicals from the Children of Atom. Hancock saved her life. Waking up on the couch to see him crouching down holding her hand and looking awfully scared shook her up a little. Turning herself over a bit, Ruby wrapped her fingers around the collar of Hancock's coat, pulling it tighter around her. Burying her nose into it, Ruby closed her eyes. Despite their jokes, and banter about saving each others lives and who owed who. Ruby knew that they would always watch out for each other, no matter how tough the situation had gotten. Her dark hues slowly opened once more, gazing outside the window. The woman's dark tresses had been tucked behind her ear, something she was sure she didn't do herself. The sea crashed against the rocks, the rhythms of the ocean never changing. The smell was a bit more awful then she last remembered but there was something comforting about this place, Ruby found. Slowly pulling herself up from the couch, Ruby reached around and slipped her arms into the sleeves of Hancock's jacket, bringing it around her and pulling it tight. It was warm and inviting.

"I don't think you should be gettin' up right now, sister." A voice called from the kitchen.

Ruby frowned, leaning up just a bit more, she saw that Hancock was sitting down at the table in the kitchen, picking out his finger nails with his long knife he carried. Despite not being able to see her from his angle she was sure he heard her moving around. Hancock's hearing was a little to good at times. Though it came in handy for fighting. Leaning back against the couch Ruby crossed her arms in front of her chest, a scowl growing acrossed her forehead. Hearing the chair scrape acrossed the wooden floor, Ruby's hues darted up to see Hancock standing in front of her. He looked tired and a bit worried.

"How yah feelin' sister" Hancock slipped over to the couch, sinking down into the chair next to it. Crossing his feet, Hancock leaned back into the chair, his dark eyes searching over the woman's form.

"A bit tired, but much better." Ruby adjusted herself on the couch, bringing her feet up close to her. Her hands fell into her lap, fingers fumbling together.

"Somethin' on your mind?" Hancock tipped his head.

"Now's.. Not really the best time to be discussing this, perhaps later." Ruby shot down his inquiry. As much as she wanted to tell him her growing feelings, it really wasn't the best time. Not after nearly losing her life.

"So tell me, why did you want to make this home?" Hancock changed the subject. Moving his legs, he kicked his heels up on top of the coffee table sitting in front of the couch and chair. Ruby moved her hues from his feet back up to his own eyes, a smile growing acrossed her pale face.

"My family used to have a vacation home by the beach back when I was a kid. It didn't have a light house but I remember spending several summers by the beach clear up to my college years relaxing. So when I heard of this place I decided it could be a good place to unwind and get away." Ruby beamed. "The water smells a bit more awful then I was hoping though. Doesn't help there is a rotting corpse of… a… mutated dolphin close by." Ruby's nose wrinkled.

"I didn't anticipate the Radiation though.."

"No and we need to discuss that." Hancock's voice grew more stern.

Ruby's face lost what color it held. Hearing his voice drop and grow more stern almost scared her. Sitting up on the couch, her brows raised.

Hancock flew up from the chair and over to Ruby's side. Grabbing her by her arms, the Mayor gave her a stern look, his hues growing dark with frustration. Ruby could feel him trembling. The woman began biting at the back of her lip. She didn't know what to do. Did she try and pull away? Yet she didn't.

"Don't ever.. Go anywhere un-prepared again." Hancock's voice began to grow strained.

"I….I.." Ruby felt at a loss for words.

Ruby felt the grip around her arms tighten for a moment, before loosening and dropping away from her. Hancock slowly backed away from Ruby shaking his head. Slowly the Mayor sat back down in the chair and sighed softly.

"You almost died, sister. I'll admit you handle yourself well. But you have to be better prepared. Who knows if the next time will be the last. You were lucky I found that Rad-Away in your bag." Hancock's eyes grew sad.

Ruby was left speechless. The fact Hancock uncharacteristically scolded her on her choices had caught her off guard. He wasn't doing it to belittle her, he was doing it because he cared. Ruby knew Nick would of torn her apart if she pulled something like this if they had been traveling together, but hearing it out of Hancock was surprising. It meant a lot though. Lowering her head, she ran her fingers over her face, breathing out slowly. She felt foolish for leaving her supplies back in Sanctuary.

"It.. Wont happen again Hancock." Ruby raised her head, her gaze pointed at the ground.

"Alright, but I can only save your ass so many times if you don't have what you need." Hancock broke the tension with a small joke.

Ruby needed that. Leaning back against the couch once more the woman's gaze met up with Hancock's, a small smile spreading acrossed her face once more.

 **Authors Note:**

 **Ugh I am in serious love with these two. Thank you for all the love you guys and for sticking around this long. Story is far from over!**


	9. Chapter 9

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 9: Rivers to Oceans**

Feeling the heat radiate off of her skin, Ruby rolled her shoulders feeling her muscles ache under her skin. The fire was wonderful though, it was a nice way to end the long day. Closing her eyes, the woman felt a cool breeze tickle at the nape of her neck causing her to briefly shudder. Feeling the bench shift a little Ruby's hues opened quickly, her gaze being met with Hancock's bright smile. It was infectious. Ruby couldn't help herself but smile back every time he gave her that look. His eyes were always inviting, his motions smooth. Seeing as the woman kept rolling her shoulder, her eyes looking a bit pained. Hancock slid over closer to the woman's form on the bench. Reaching up, he placed his hands on her shoulder and began rubbing the muscle deeply in tight small circles. He could feel Ruby immediately relax under his touch.

"Ughh.. How did you know.." Ruby sighed

"It was a bit obvious." Hancock laughed.

Hancock could feel her muscle slowly unwinding itself under her skin, his bare fingers working it until the knot had dissipated. Ruby's dark hues were closed, she kept biting at the inside of her lip. Something was on her mind. Ruby was a bit obvious whenever something was boiling up under that lid of hers. Just the way she would dart her way around specific topics in conversations or just go out of her way to avoid them all together. Hancock knew Ruby initially wasn't the one to speak to begin with, but the longer they had spent time together the more the woman opened up. He just wish she would speak whenever something was bothering her. Moving his fingers over to her other shoulder, he began working the tight muscles near her neck. If her body could get anymore loose and nimble she would melt into a puddle. The thought brought a smile to Hancock's face. Never had he seen the woman so relaxed.

Ruby briefly pulled away from Hancock's touch. Growing confused, the Mayor frowned softly. Seeing the woman turn herself he blinked a few times. Had she had enough? She had seemed like she was enjoying herself to much to want it to end. Ruby slid herself a bit closer to Hancock, reaching up she ran her fingers down his cheek. He could feel his heart beginning to pick up in his chest. Damn this woman.

"You aint gonna pull some trick on me again are you?" Hancock snarked.

Without saying a word, Ruby leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on the Mayor's lips. Pulling away from him, the woman's cheeks flared red, blushing hard.

"Is.. Oh.. Well.. I wasn't expecting that kind of lapse in judgment from you." Hancock gave a stupid grin.

The sheer look of shock growing acrossed Ruby's face was worth every moment it stung to say that comment. A wider smile grew acrossed Hancock's face. Wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, he leaned close to her and pressed a deep kiss upon the woman's soft lips to which she happily returned. Wanting to savor the moment, Hancock cupped her cheeks and slowly pulled away breaking off the kiss.

"Look love, if this is what I think it's about. You won't want to wake up every morning next to this ugly mug. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone I cared about." Hancock gently frowned.

Ruby only shook her head gazing him deep in the eyes. "That..has never bothered me Hancock. You are handsome." Her gaze warmed.

Not answering, Hancock only returned her smile before quickly leaning in and kissing her once more. Ruby reached her small hands out and wrapped them around the Mayor's collar, her fingers slipping under his warm jacket and beginning to pull it off his shoulders. With Hancock's help Ruby pulled his red frock off of his shoulders and gently set it down beside her. Briefly breaking the kiss, the woman turned herself and slowly crawled onto Hancock's lap, straddling him. Hancock wrapped his arms around the woman, his hands snaking down to her butt, giving it a good squeeze. A soft whimper escaped from Ruby's lips, leaning her head against his shoulder, the woman nuzzled his cheek, her breath growing heavy.

"You sure about this?" Hancock asked, his voice barely hovering above a whisper.

"Yes." Ruby trembled.

Hancock's hands slowly moved up under Ruby's white shirt only pausing when the music that normally strummed out of the woman's pipboy stopped playing.

"Attention all Minutemen. A settlement needs your help. Any available minutemen please report to Sunshine Tidings Co-op immediately, stay safe out there." The voice shattered the tender moment Ruby and Hancock had so desperately wanted to have.

Ruby sighed inwardly her head pounding from frustration. Leaning close to Hancock once more, Ruby placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and slowly pulled away. Feeling his warmth leave left her a bit grumpy. Standing up, she reached down and picked up his red frock, holding it out for him

"Sorry.. To..-"

"No love, duty calls." Hancock interrupted, taking the red frock from her hands and giving Ruby a gentle smile.

#

Ruby held herself close to the ground, her rifle clenched close to her chest. It was dark outside, the moon hadn't even peaked out in the night sky. All that was visible was the many stars that filled the dark sky. The woman was relying on Hancock's ears now more then ever, yet despite getting the news the settlement was under attack, she heard nothing. No cries for help, no shots being fired. It was all entirely eerie. Feeling her heart race in her chest, the woman followed Hancock slowly up the hill, keeping her footfalls quiet. Radio Freedom never specified what had attacked the settlement to much of her frustration.

Hancock immediately stopped in his tracks and stood back up to his feet, Ruby could see something was off about his body language. Slowly raising back up to her feet, she looked over to Hancock's face, it was twisted and sad. Growing confused, Ruby turned her head and looked out to the settlement… everyone was dead.

Ruby slung her rifle over her shoulder by the strap. Leaving Hancock's side, the woman ran over to the barn, peering in, she could see a small glow emanating from a lantern. Her heart broke. Biting her bottom lip, Ruby walked over close to one of the dead bodies laying on the ground. Sinking down slowly, Ruby collapsed into tears her hands cupping over her eyes.

"Oh God, I am so.. Sorry." Ruby whispered, sobbing hard.

Hancock walked over to the woman's side, holstering his shotgun. Kneeling down to her trembling form, her wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest hugging her tightly.

"Ruby, this aint your fault. You hear that." Hancock's voice grew stern.

"I..I know…we..d..did what we..we could." Ruby hiccupped.

Hancock reached over and lifted Ruby's face by her chin. Her dark makeup smearing down her cheeks. Sighing softly, the Mayor cupped her face and whipped the tears away with his thumbs. Ruby closed her eyes and took in the small moment of comfort the Mayor offered her. Hancock leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and slowly pulled himself back up, reaching down and offering his hand to help Ruby stand. The woman opened her eyes and took his hand, her knees feeling like they would buckle again until she was steady. Dropping her hand back down to her side, her dark hues gazed around, sighing once more.

"We should.. Probably find out who attacked.. Maybe find a better way to protect our other settlements so this doesn't happen again." Ruby shook her head.

Adjusting the rifle from around her shoulder Ruby stepped away from the dead woman. Walking out into the settlement, it didn't take longs for her eyes to trace where the attackers had ambushed everyone. Dead bodies littered the ground, blood trailing acrossed the dirt. Crops had been decimated. It looked like a damn war scene. Biting at the back of her lip to try and keep her emotions in check, the woman was just about to step in one of the many cabins when her foot hit something heavy. Looking down the woman noticed she had kicked a laser rifle a few feet in front of her path. Stepping up to it, she wrapped her fingers around the handle and lifted it up.

"Institute.." she whispered to herself.

Hancock followed Ruby, watching the way the woman had observed her surroundings. The night wasn't so dark now that the moon had crept out, yet the Mayor kept his ears trained on anyone else that might have been lurking in the darkness. His dark hues caught Ruby stopping in her tracks and picking up a rifle. Stepping over to her side, his hues darted down to the gun, knowing full well who had developed it.

"The damn Institute killed everyone here.." Ruby snapped.

"Time to take them down." Hancock's voice strained.

Ruby's dark hues glanced up over at Hancock, her face growing more angry by the second.

"Yeah, I can't waste anymore time.. We need to take them out. They aren't taking anymore lives, not on my clock." Ruby shook her head.

#

Ruby sat in the living room of her old worn down house. As much as she had been dying to get away and set up her home back at the old Kingsport Lighthouse, more pressing matters had begun bubbling up. Responsibilities had been growing and more people had been calling out for help from the Minutemen now that they had become more established. The woman never asked to be apart of anyone's crusade, she never asked to be anyone's hero. Yet this 32 year old former lawyer, with a dead husband and a missing son had become just that. Just the person the Commonwealth had been needing. Was it the fact her late husband was a Veteran? Or the fact she had been a lawyer, or was it just the fact she had an open mind. Ruby didn't know, she didn't know the answers to anything yet she had been seemingly make the right choices despite nearly getting her ass killed a few occasions. Ruby felt split, apart of her wanted to take down the Institute and go find Shaun, if he wasn't already brain washed..or.. Killed and turned into a synth. To try and capture some small part of her old life back, live in a house with Shaun and Codsworth, perhaps with Hancock if he willed. Yet that other part of her was thriving in this community. This part of her wanted to continue on with her life as the General of the Minutemen. They had become strongly established thanks to her. Maybe young Shaun would become a Minutemen as well when he got old enough? Ruby didn't know. She knew nothing. Despite the split she had been recently feeling, the woman knew the sooner she took down the Institute, the sooner the people of the Commonwealth could unite once more, and the sooner she could be united with Shaun.

That now familiar red frock broke Ruby out of her thought. Looking up from the wall, the woman's dark hues glanced over to Hancock who was standing next to the couch, a small smile ever adorning his face. It was infectious, a small smile tugged at the woman's cheeks, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.

"So.. What's the plan?" Hancock asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette.

"We need to go to the Glowing Sea.. After I pick up a Hazmat suit of course. We need to find Virgil and find out how to get into the Institute. Then we can take them on." Ruby beamed.

"Would you like for me to go with you?" Hancock asked.

"Do I really need to ask this anymore?" Ruby chuckled.

"Good point.." Hancock shook his head.

Ruby slowly pulled herself up from the worn out couch, The fabric ripping every time she shifted her weight. Brushing herself off, the woman rolled her shoulder and adjusted the dark blue navy coat on her shoulders. The woman had just recently acquired the General's Uniform and had taken a big liking to it, almost made it feel more official.

"Lets go." She smiled.

 **Authors Note:**

 **Big chapter! Hope you all liked it! Things will begin to start moving after this. Chapter updates will be slow but thank you for all of the follows and favorites! Until then happy reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 10: Diamonds to the Glowing Sea**

Ruby sank down into an old broken patio chair in Home Plate. She had acquired the home in Diamond City just shortly before beginning her work with Nick yet she never took the time to put it together. The fairly decently sized home was dark and dusty. Trash littered the floor an hardware supplies had been pushed up against the walls. Obviously the abandoned building was someone's storage building at one point. Yet the woman wasn't going to complain. It was hers and hers alone, unless Hancock felt like living there as well but sneaking him in was a tricky task. Ghoul's weren't allowed in Diamond City. Despite the Mayor's protests, saying he was McDonough's brother and the guards would have to let him in regardless. Ruby didn't want to risk anything so she snuck the Mayor in the city late at night, keeping his Tricorn hat pulled down on his face and wrapping her arm around his neck. All in the façade of looking like she was drunk. None of the guards even took a second look. To easy.

"Well I gotta be honest with yah love. Its no Goodneighbor but I like your digs." Hancock called out from the other side of home plate.

Ruby reached up and touched the freshly healed scars that trailed acrossed her face, they no longer itched or stung. The woman almost began to admire them rather then try and ignore them. She initially tried covering up the raw pinkness of the scars with makeup, but dragging herself through the mud and rain would constantly wash it all off. The woman had gotten a feeling Hancock took a liking to them as well. She wasn't a fresh face youngling out in this world, she was a hard edged woman who had seen battle. Slowly Ruby dragged herself up from that broken chair and wondered over to Hancock's side. He had his back turned to her, seeing him slip a box of Mentat's into his pocket her eyes gazed up to his tricorn hat. Slowly reaching up, she slipped it off of his bald head and over her dark hair. A stupid grin growing acrossed her face. Hancock immediately wheeled around, his deep colored hues locking onto her own.

"How do I look?" Ruby whispered, her dark hues narrowing.

"Dashing.." Hancock moved himself slowly closer to her.

Ruby immediately wrapped her arms up and around his neck, bringing herself closer to him. She felt his warm arms wrap around her torso, bringing her up against him hard she let out a soft whimper. The two began to rock back and forth slowly, dancing quietly. Hancock gazed down at Ruby, one arm let go of her torso and reached up, slowly pulling the hat off of her head. Tossing it over his shoulder, the hat landed roughly against a pile of buckets next to a flipped patio chair. Ruby's hues followed the hat, then over to meet the gaze of Hancock. He looked anxious. Raising her brow, she gave him a sheepish grin. Without warning, the Mayor leaned down and placed a deep kiss on the woman's lips. Groaning, Ruby reached up from her grasp around his neck and cupped his cheeks, pushing back into the kiss hungrily. Hancock let go of her waist and reached down, cupping his hands around her ass and picking her up into his arms. Without hesitation, Ruby wrapped her legs around his hips, one arm draped around his neck for support. Hancock took a step and pressed Ruby up against the wall beginning to kiss her deeper. Moaning once more in the kiss, Ruby briefly broke it.

"You drive me wild.." she whispered.

Without missing a beat, Hancock leaned closer to her and started nipping at her neck. Bucking his hips into her, she whimpered once more.

"This is going to be a long, fun night." Hancock purred into her ear.

#

Ruby found herself slowly waking up, her hair knotted and messy and her muscles feeling tired. Yet despite this she felt.. satisfied. Leaning up, Ruby immediately noted that she was still naked, yet Hancock's red frock had been wrapped around her bare form. Her dark hues glanced up, hovering over the form of Hancock. The Mayor was leaning against the wall, only wearing his pants. Seeing the end of the cigarette light up as he drew in a long drag. Nothing beat good sex and a cigarette, granted Ruby wouldn't know, she never smoked a day in her life. Yet she was familiar with the old saying. Hancock pushed himself off the wall, lowering his cigarette and flicking the ashes softly. Taking a step over to Ruby, he kneeled down next to her side, the hand holding the cigarette held a bit behind him, keeping the smoke away from Ruby.

"Hancock."

"Shoot." The Mayor smiled.

"I.. just want to know, how you feel about.. Well us..being together. I know we entertained the idea earlier, but I just want to be sure." Ruby inquired.

There it was, even after all of their flirting and just after the fact they had mind blowing sex. Ruby finally caved in and asked about his opinion on them being together. He knew damn well Ruby would stew on things in her mind. It had been obvious since the time they spent together at Sunshine Tidings Co-op. The way she teased him with a kiss, those small glances they would steal from each other during their travels. Hancock never anticipated growing attached to anyone. He never anticipated anyone ever actually wanting to be with him longer then a one night stand. Now he knew how serious she was, about actually pursuing a relationship. Something more meaningful then just being friends with benefits. It touched him, made his heart melt. This amazing woman choosing him, over all the other options she had she chose the chem addicted mayor with a face only a mother could love. He didn't know what he did to deserve someone so amazing, but he wasn't just going to let the opportunity slip by either.

"Words don't even begin to do this justice.. You..You're the best thing I got. I.. I don't know what I deserved to have someone like you even consider me.. But hell why not. I'd love to be your ghoul, I'm all yours love." Hancock beamed.

Ruby slowly leaned up close to him, pressing her forehead against his. Reaching up with her hand, she cupped his cheek and lightly nuzzled his face. Hancock reached around her small frame, pulling her into a tight hug.

#

The woman was standing by herself in Fallon's basement. It killed her to leave Hancock alone in Home base but she just didn't want to take the chance in getting kicked out, without a hazmat suit at least. Biting at the back of her lip, the woman standing by the cash register had grated her wrong. Ruby wasn't asking for hand outs but the woman certainly expected her to. The way she looked down at her when she first entered her small shop. The atmosphere was certainly one Ruby didn't wish to spend much time in. Turning herself Ruby walked up to the older woman, her dark hues narrowing.

"You wouldn't perhaps have any hazmat suits do you?" Ruby inquired.

"I just have about anything, if your paying of course." The old woman barked.

"Of course." Ruby sighed,

The old woman turned herself and pulled a Hazmat suit out from a worn down cardboard box and plopped it on the counter in front of her. Ruby reached into her pocket and exchanged the correct amount of caps and quickly snatched up the hazmat suit, not wanting to waste anymore time in the store. Cradling her suit in her arms, she walked out of the shop and into the market. Setting her backpack down, Ruby slipped the hazmat suit into the pack and took no time in zipping it up. Slinging the pack back over her shoulder, she took leisurely steps over to Takahashi's noodle shop. Ruby was told the old robot only had one function, to make noodles and repeat himself over and over again. Ordering two bowls of noodles, Ruby hurried herself back over to home plate and slipped inside back her home. Hancock was pacing inside of the house still only wearing his pants but some how his tricorn hat had found its way back on top of his head. Ruby dropped her pack down on the floor, cradling the two bowls of noodles in her hands.

"Hungry?" She smiled.

"Oh yes.. Thank you." Hancock took a step over, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek and slipping one of the bowls out of her hands.

"I hope you weren't to bored without me." Ruby joked, a soft cackle escaping her lips.

"Oh love.. If you only knew." Hancock flashed her a wicked smile.

Shooting the Mayor a sideways glance, Ruby shook her head and stepped over to the rusted out patio table. Slipping into the chair behind her the woman glanced up watching the Mayor shove large amounts of noodles into his mouth.

"Goodness you were hungry." Ruby laughed once more.

"Mmmhm!" A muffled agreement escaping Hancock's stuffed mouth.

It didn't take long for the woman to finish her food and push the bowl away from her form, knowing she was going to scrap it later for parts. Looking up at Hancock, Ruby watched as the Mayor stuffed his face hungrily, quickly finishing not long after Ruby.

"Well Fallon's basement managed to have a few hazmat suits on stock, so I picked one up for myself. Don't need to be soaking up the rads when we head south." Ruby tipped her head.

"Oh love you'll always pick up rads heading south with me." Hancock snarked.

"You are on a role today." Ruby shook her head, a sheepish grin growing acrossed her face.

The woman slowly stood up from her chair and pushed it back closer to the worn down table. Sighing inwardly, the woman stretched her arms out in front of her, rolling her neck and loosening up her tired muscles.

"I guessing we should head out?" Hancock's hues darted over from the door over to Ruby's small frame.

"I suppose we should." The woman nodded.

#

Hancock ran quickly over to Ruby's side the moment she immediately collapsed against the ground. He could see the woman heaving inside of her Hazmat suit. The Mayor knew the high levels of radiation were bothering Ruby. She insisted leaving her power armor back home saying her hazmat suit was enough to keep away the sickness, but he made sure she had packed plenty of Rad-X and Radaway before they even left. Kneeling up to his feet, Hancock slammed the bunker's door closed behind them, hearing the high pitched clicks coming from the woman's pipboy waning as the heavy lead door cut them off from the poisonous radiation outside. Ruby sat down flat on the floor, her hands shaking as she struggled to pull her large helmet off of her head.

"Here here, hold still." Hancock sighed gently.

Ruby immediately dropped her hands, allowing the Mayor to pull off her helmet and assess the level of her sickness. Hancock gently reached up and cupped the woman's pale colored cheek, frowning gently.

"Well you look alright love. Let me give you a shot of Radaway and you'll be good to go." Hancock gave her a weak smile.

Ruby gave him a soft nod and began pulling off her radiation suit. Slipping out of them quickly. She placed the hazmat suit on the ground on a crumpled pile, holding her arm out to Hancock. The Mayor only smiled, not saying a word. Reaching around to the pack she dropped on the floor, he flipped open the top and pulled out a syringe and a bag of radaway. Moving back over to Ruby's side, he kneeled down close to her and took her outstretched arm. Not wasting any time, the Mayor found her vain and admistered the Radaway, almost feeling the woman trembling.

"You alright love?" Hancock gazed up at her, removing the needle from her arm and putting the syringe down.

"Will we be able to continue on tonight?" Ruby's brows sank down into a slight frown,

"I think we should rest here for now. Your weak from this radiation, We can leave first thing in the morning if you'd like." Hancock gave her a reassuring smile.

"Alright, sounds good."

"Good."

 **Authors Note:**

 **Ahhhhh I honestly hate writing chapters with a bunch of scene cuts but I honestly never been a fan of writing transitional chapters to begin with. So I make due. Thank you for the comments, follows, views, favorites, etc etc. You guys spoil me! I hope you all have enjoyed it this far! Until then. Happy Reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 11: No more**

Virgil had seemingly found himself a nice place to call home. Well at least a temporary home. The former Institute scientist had crawled into the bowels of the Glowing Sea, hid deep within a cave guarded by a Ravaged Deathclaw just outside the mouth of his home. Radiation levels were low enough for Ruby to slip off the helmet of her hazmat suit and slip it into her pack. The pair had managed to slip by the danger outside of the cave without disturbing it. The woman had mastered sneaking around the Commonwealth to avoid most danger and her skill was only just proven moments ago when they managed to slip by without disturbing a single claw from the foul beast. Hearing heavy steps further in the cave, Ruby slipped her pack down on the floor by the mouth of the cave and ventured further down surprised that the turrets hadn't gone off when she stepped into their sensor range. Yet this moment was tense, Ruby's heart hammered hard into her chest seeing a large creature fumbling around the base of the cave. The woman wasn't prepared to see the scientist she sought out was a Super Mutant. Yet she wasn't going to be the one to start judging now. It didn't stop her from getting itchy to reach for her Assault Rifle though. Holding her hands up in a defensive manner, Ruby slipped into view of the large scientist. Her dark hues growing wide when his own eyes met with hers. She could almost feel the air grow heavy. Hancock shuffled behind her, she had learned that Mayor moved his feet quite often when he wasn't sure of their surroundings. Ever keeping an eye out around them.

"Hold it.. No sudden movements." Virgil snapped.

"It's ok. I know you escaped from the Institute.. I'm just looking for a way to get in." Ruby held up her hands.

"You know about my escape!? How.. No.. why would you want to get into the Institute to begin with. That would result in your death." Virgil frowned sharply at the woman.

Ruby dropped her hands to her sides. "My son was taken from the Institute…"

"Oh.. I'm sorry.. That would give anyone a good reason to want to break into the Institute. So.. Do you know how Synths can get to the Institute." Virgil inquired.

"No, I'm afraid I don't."

"They use some kind of radio wave to beam them in and out of the Institute. So you will need to hunt down a courser and bring me it's hardware. It's embedded on a chip deep in its head." Virgil tipped his head.

"I.. actually came acrossed a courser during my travels. I found one attacking a group of innocent people and well.. After I shot its head open, its chip caught me off guard so.. I took it." Ruby's brows raised. "My only guess was that group was actually a group of synths."

"Fantastic! Then this saves us both a lot of time." Virgil clapped his hands.

"Us both?" Ruby frowned.

"I help you get into the Institute and you help me find the serum that can turn me back into a human." Virgil's hues gazed down at the woman, growing serious.

"Can do, where can I find this serum?" Ruby ran her fingers through her hair.

"It'll be in my office."

"Right.. Got it." Ruby turned herself and walked back towards the mouth of the cave. Picking up her pack she was immediately stopped when Hancock blocked her way back in.

"I aint one to judge, but can we trust this guy?" Hancock frowned with concern.

"Well.. He hasn't tried to kill us yet.. So I suppose we can." Ruby reached up and placed a gentle hand on Hancock's cheek. Smiling softly.

"Alright love." The Mayor moved out of Ruby's way, letting her walk back down into the cave. Placing the pack down on the floor, Ruby kneeled down and opened it up, rummaging through her bag until she found the chip floating around the bottom of her bag. Her fingers reached around it and pulled it out. Standing back up to her feet, her small hand reached out, handing the chip to Virgil.

"Ahhhh yes that is what you want." Virgil smiled. Taking the chip from the small woman's hand. He turned his rather large hulking form over to his computer and plugged the chip right into it.

"Mmm ok.. I see.." Virgil started mumbling to himself, his large fingers flying over the keyboard as large amounts of information started scrolling on the screen.

"Alright, here I have information on how to get into the Institute as well as information on how the relay system works. Hopefully you have someone who can build this because that is a little beyond me." Virgil sighed. Pulling the information off of his computer and onto the holotape, he turned himself around and gently slipped the holotape into Ruby's hands.

"I wish you good luck."

"Thank you." Ruby smiled.

#

Hancock dragged his feet as Ruby marched on ahead of him. His ears ever vigilant for any enemies lurking deep in the bushes. Yet with the way the woman carried herself, he worried less and less about her safety knowing she could kick some serious ass if she wanted. Still he knew she valued his help. The damn sun had came out again in full force. After spending nearly 3 days in the glowing sea, Hancock had began to grow used to the lack of bright light in the sky that stung at his eyes. Keeping his Tricorn hat pulled sharply over his dark hues, the Mayor trudged onward, one more step forward. Ruby pressed forward avoiding many of the major broken down roads and opting for slightly longer but more quiet passages over to the Castle. They had briefly met up with Preston over in Sanctuary to tell him the news and that Ruby wanted to move the operation over to the Castle, knowing it would be more of a secure place then Sanctuary ever was.

"Will someone ever turn that damn thing down, it's to bright out here." Hancock sighed.

All he could hear was Ruby cackling as they pushed forward. Her steps slowing pace a bit, then suddenly she stopped walking. Looking up from the ground, Hancock immediately stopped. They had managed to reach the Castle before afternoon. Hancock gave Ruby a cheeky smile and walked past her small form, his arms swinging as he entered the castle's doorway.

Ruby's gaze met with Hancock's as he smirked at her, making his way forward. She watched the way the Mayor would swing his arms, the way his feet marched in front of him. He never lied, he was a very charismatic individual. Another reason why the woman had allowed herself to grow attached to him. The way the pair would greet others almost became a routine. Ruby would greet their guests and Hancock would wander off and away, but never to far. He remained close enough to keep an eye on whomever they met but far enough away Ruby wouldn't be feeling smothered when she was trying to conduct business. Hancock got good at reading the woman's body language. Whenever she grew uncomfortable she would lean back on one leg and tip her head. Her arms always either crossing in front of her or close to her rifle. That was usually his signal to come back close. Ruby knew of this and he knew of it.

Allowing Hancock to drop out of her sight, Ruby's dark hues met over to see Preston standing close to the radio tower in the center of the castle. His muscled form leaning against the wall looking down at the man who tended Minutemen radio. Preston hadn't even noticed Ruby showed up until she walked right over to his side and tipped her head.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Oh! Hey General, didn't think you'd make it here so quickly." Preston straightened himself up. His own deep umber eyes meeting with Ruby's gaze. The woman placed her hands on her hips chuckling softly.

"Well we would have been quicker if I didn't take the side routes but I would rather save my bullets if I can." Ruby blinked a few times.

"No worries ma'am." Preston nodded.

Ruby noticed a form walk up beside her. Though it was not the usual red frock she had grown used to, turning herself, she was met with Sturges' warm smile.

"I see you came along?" Ruby returned the other's smile.

"Why yes. I don't think anyone else can figure out what we need better then I!" Sturges laughed.

"You've got a good point." Ruby smirked wider, gently shaking her head.

"Ive got the holotape from Virgil to build this relay, I'll give it to you so you can figure how this whole thing works and I guess while you do that, the rest of us can go search for supplise?" Ruby's hand stretched out, placing the holotape into Virgil's hand.

"Sure thing ma'am." Preston nodded.

Ruby nodded and dropped her arms down to her sides, knowing it was going to be another long day ahead of them.

#

The woman's muscles ached every time she moved. Her head pounded and she could feel her joints screaming to rest. Dragging supplise from the nearby town back into the castle was no easy task. The sheer number of everything they needed to gather was high and on top of that they had enemies nipping at their heels the whole journey back and forth. Ruby had to remind herself though, this wasn't just for her to find her son but it was to gather information about the Institute.. To perhaps find a way to finally shut them down once and for all. This was for everyone in the Common Wealth. The light was beginning to glow at the end of the long dark tunnel. Ever since Ruby woke up from that lonely vault everything had come slamming down onto her shoulders. Everyone expected her to end all the pain and suffering, yet despite all of this. Ruby found herself among the company of friends and loved ones more so now then before the bombs dropped. She was still trying to figure that one out, but the woman figured that when another saw a person with a good heart they tended to latch on and refuse to let go.

Shrugging her dark navy coat off of her shoulders, Ruby reached around and pulled it off, draping the General's jacket over a broken down chair. The woman was alone in her quarters of the castle. Preston had made it clear to the rest of the Minutemen that this was her space, and hers alone. She was not to be bothered when the doors were closed unless there was an emergency. The woman felt comfort in this. Every settlement she built, she had built for everyone else. Granted Ruby had her own small house in Diamond city she never really felt settled anywhere. She was always on the road with a companion traveling behind. Usually Hancock more so anymore. Ruby didn't feel like she had a home or like she really belonged anywhere. It bothered her, specially if she was going to bring Shaun home. Sighing slowly, Ruby kicked her boot's off and stretched her legs out, leaning back against the worn down bed.

A soft knock upon the heavy wooden door drew the woman out of her deep thoughts, her dark hues darted up a soft frown sinking down on her forehead.

"Yes?" Ruby called out.

The door slowly opened, a tricorn hat peaked in, a pair of charcoal hues gazing up over at the woman's frame.

"It's just me love, can I come in?" Hancock asked.

"Of course.." Ruby pulled herself off the bed and straightened herself.

The Mayor had looked uneasy, just as much as Ruby had felt. Knowing that the woman was going to be traveling into the belly of the beast had almost made everyone uneasy. It was incredibly dangerous yet everyone knew that she had to do this alone. She had been the answer the Commonwealth needed and if something had happened to her, who knew what would happen to the rest of everyone else. Hancock reached out and brushed his hand down Ruby's cheek. She could almost feel him trembling. Closing her eyes, she pulled herself close to his frame, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso.

"Hancock, I've got a bad feeling about all of this..I'm not going to lie." Ruby sighed.

"Look, I get it. I am nervous too but you will make it through this and when all is said and done, you will have your son back and the Institute will be gone." Hancock pulled back just enough to gaze deeply into the woman's uneasy hues. Yet she nodded and gave the mayor a week smile.

"Alright." Ruby buried her nose into his collar, savoring the close moment between them.

 **Authors Note:**

 **Things are about to get seriously intense! Just a heads up in the next chapter I am going to start straying from the canon storyline. It'll be good though! I wanted to take this story into a slightly way. Thank you all for the love thus far. Means everything to me. Chapter updates will be slow but until then.. Happy Reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 12: A Bitter Reunion**

The dawn of the next day wasn't exactly something the woman was hoping to see. She had wished the night had drawn on forever. The last thing she wanted to do was leave the warm embrace of Hancock's arms and go drag herself deep into the Institute. Yet she had a duty to carry out and a son to find. Slipping out of her room, she wrapped her fingers tightly around her navy blue jacket and nervously tugged it over her shoulders. Hearing the heavy oak door open behind her, the woman's dark hues darted over her shoulder to find Hancock in front of the doors, his tricorn hat pulled down over his eyes a bit, his own red frock hastily thrown over his shoulders.

"I'm not ready for this…" Ruby whispered, turning herself towards his form.

"You got this Ruby, I know you got this." Hancock reached out and brought he woman into a tight embrace, hugging her form close to his.

Pulling away from him slowly, Ruby broke away from his hug and held onto his hands tightly. She had never been so nervous in her life. Not during her first case as a lawyer, not during her wedding to Nate, not when Shaun was born and certainly not when she woke up from the vault. She ran on pure instincts then. Dropping the Mayors hands, Ruby turned herself away from Hancock and took a deep breath in. It was time to face the demon head on.

Ruby had followed the hallway down from her quarters and out into the court yard. She could hear the hustle and bustle of the Minutemen around. Her muscles began to grow tense, her heart hammered in her chest but she needed to trust in her comrades, her friends. She needed to trust in Hancock's words. Everything was going to turn out alright. Yet the woman couldn't shake that bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Walking slowly up over to Sturges. Ruby placed her hand on his shoulder and sighed inwardly.

"She ready to go?" The woman asked, her nerves causing her voice to waver.

"Yes ma'am!. But before you go, you will need this.." Sturges slipped a holotape into the woman's hands.

"Download that onto the nearest terminal you can find, it will pull information off from the Institute's systems so we can figure out how to relay everyone in once we decide to attack." The man smiled, reaching up and gently patting Ruby's shoulder in support.

"Alright, well.. Lets fire her up. I want to get this done and over with." Ruby cracked a weak smile.

"Whenever your ready just stand under the arch and I'll get her singing!" Sturges moved away and closer to the control console.

Ruby turned herself away from the relay and took a deep sigh inward, letting out her breath slowly and calmly. Hoping it would take the edge off of her nerves. Hancock wasted no time in walking up to the woman, pulling her close into a tight hug once more. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned close and pressed a hard kiss upon the Mayor's lips, feeling him return the embrace. It had all felt like an eternity. Treasuring the moment, Ruby reached her hands up from his neck and cupped his cheeks deepening the kiss. Hancock held the kiss then slowly backed away from the woman, breaking the embrace.

"Go kick some ass love.." Hancock whispered, a sly smile spreading his acrossed his face.

Ruby gave him a bright smile and pulled away slowly. Holding onto his hand as long as possible, she gently let it go and stepped up under the relay, her dark hues only fixed on the very form of Hancock's.

"Alright Sturges.. Lets make her sing!" Ruby called out.

The relay began to pop and sizzle, arcs of electricity sputtering about. Yet Ruby began to tone out everything around her. Classical music sang out from Sturges' terminal. The relay was struggling to make a connection and the woman could swear she could hear Sturges saying something to her but everything was toned out. Her dark hues locked with the Mayor's gaze. His warm smile keeping her calm. She returned it briefly before everything suddenly disappeared. The air grew cold, yet the woman's skin felt hot. Her vision blurred and she could feel her stomach raise up to her chest. Yet for what seemed like the entrance to hell, Ruby felt the air shift once more, and she landed hard against a concrete floor. Her knees buckling out from under her. Collapsing down to the floor, Ruby doubled over and began gagging from the sheer rush of the relay jump. The air felt like it had been sucked out of her lungs but she was alive and very much ok. Her hands reached out in front of her, her vision still blurry. Rolling over onto her back, the woman looked up at the ceiling until her vision had sharpened. She was now in the Institute.

"Shit…" Ruby whispered to herself.

Slowly sitting up, the woman could feel her strength returning. That jump hit her hard, she was not expecting that. Reaching down, Ruby quickly pulled out her rifle and held it tightly against her shoulder, keeping her finger close to the trigger in case she needed to defend herself.

Taking a step out of the relay room, the woman's hues darted around, watching her surroundings. Yet the place was oddly empty.. Cold.. Strange. Not even the vault she woke up from felt this lonely. Breathing out slowly, she could feel her nerves gathering at the back of her neck, her hair standing on end. She could see a terminal up ahead. Just what she needed.. She could pull the information then see if she could find Shaun. In and out, she didn't want to waste any time. Quickening her pace, Ruby slipped into the chair. Pulling the holotape from the pocket of her jacket, she slipped it into the slot of the computer and began downloading information from the Institute's terminal. She could feel her heart hammering harder in her chest. This place didn't feel right.

"Hello.. I wondered if you might make it here, you are quite resourceful. I am known as Father, the Institute is under my guidance. I would like to discuss things face to face.. So please step into the elevator." Ruby heard a deep voice crack out from the speakers in the room. Her heart hammering harder in her chest.

Seeing that the holotape was done downloading, she pulled it out from the terminal and slowly frowned. Slipping the valuable holotape back into her navy blue jacket. Ruby held her rifle close to her and pulled away from the chair and made her way down the hallway. Taking a step into the elevator, the doors closed behind her. Biting at the back of her lip, the women knew she could be perhaps making the worse mistake listening to this voice but perhaps this would be the easiest way to find Shaun instead of sneaking around.. Or it could be the easiest way to get her killed.

"I can only imagine, what you've heard, what you think of us. I would like to show you that you've got the wrong impression…. Welcome to the Institute. This is the reality of the Institute. The people, the work we do. We have dedicated decades of research to humanity's benefit. Our actions are often misinterpreted above ground, I want to show you that is not true, but for now we must remain under ground. As you've seen things are unstable, but I would like to talk to you about what we can do for everyone, but that can wait. You are here for a specific reason.. You are here for you son." The voice called out from the speakers, as it lowered into another room.

That unease was growing even more in Ruby's stomach. Her heart hammering hard. The woman was nearly shaking in her uniform, but following the hallway down, the door in front of her slid open and she saw a young boy sitting behind a glass room, paying little attention to the woman in front of him.

"Shaun…. Shaun is that you?" Ruby called out, immediately lowering her gun.

"Father…..father.. Please.. She's trying to take me.." The little boy cried out.

Ruby felt herself about ready to start pounding on the glass to reach her son when suddenly she realized something. Her memories flashed back to Kellogg's memories.. When that courser took Shaun back.

' _Pet Project'_

Those words rang over and over in Ruby's head. Her hands began to tremble. This wasn't her son.. That little boy in front of her was a Pet Project… a synth. Backing away from one of the glass walls, Ruby clenched her rifle up close to her chest once more. Before she had the chance to back away even more, a door slid open in front of her and an older man stepped in front of her.

"S 9 23, Recall code Sirius. Facinating but disappointing. The child's responses were not what I expected, but he's a prototype. But please keep an open mind. I realize you are emotional. That your journey here was brought with challenges, but lets start. I am father.. Welcome to the Institute." The older man's voice seemed cool and collected. It grated Ruby's nerves.

"You.. Bastard.. You stole my son and made him into a synth!? How could you!" Ruby snapped at the older man, her eyes narrowing. She could feel herself gripping her rifle tightly.

"Please understand.. Lets be rational here.. Shaun is not dead." Father held up his hands, hoping to ease the woman's anger.

"Then where is he!" Ruby gritted her teeth, pointing her rifle at the old man.

"I am Shaun.. I.. am your son." Father lowered his hands, his face growing gentle.

"You are full of shit!" Ruby shook her head, but she lowered her rifle a bit, willing to hear the man out.

"Under the circumstances I will forgive your vulgarity .. But please take the time to understand. In the Vault, you had no concept of the passage of time. So when you woke, you went searching for the son you lost, not realizing how much time had passed. But is it so hard to realize sixty years have passed? So the Institute has raised me. An well here I am."

"They brainwashed you, murdered your father" Ruby felt tears began to spring up in her eyes. Anger growing.

"No, it was necessary.. They needed clean human DNA for the Synths and the radiation effected everyone. Another source was necessary, so the Institute discovered me, an infant frozen in time. Free from the radiation that had crept into everyone else's DNA. They needed it to create the perfect baseline for everyone synthetic human you see now." Father calmly spoke.

Ruby felt her anger growing even more. Yet she didn't say a word.

"So through Science, I am their father. We are a family. Through my DNA and you." Father spoke once more, pointing gently at Ruby.

"I can't believe you let them do this.. All of this!" Ruby frowned sharply, beginning to back away.

"Please is there anything I can do to help you understand." Father reached out to Ruby.

"No.. you let them brainwash you.. You hurt people above ground.." Ruby snapped.

"Do you think that will change? No matter what those above ground think about us. The Institute is the only way humanities future can be secured, safe. It will be a chance for you and I to start anew. Give me time.. What else can I say. Join me.." Father lowered his arm and took a step back from the door, giving Ruby a chance to see what was inside.

The woman could see an older generation two synth step up from Father's side and close to Ruby, keeping its cold eyes focused on her. Her son stood in front of her, living and controlling a clean and advanced place. An institute that seemed dedicated on helping advance humanity to a once prosperous state. She could be a family again, live her life in peace and secure the hope of everyone in the Commonwealth. Yet Shaun.. Or Father now didn't seem to care for the people above ground. He was brainwashed and selfish. His very Institute attacked her own people and now was not the time to turn her back on the very ones she now grew to love.

"No.. I will not join you! You are full of shit.. You are full of lies. I will not listen to this, I will not let your father's death be in vein. I will not turn my back on my people above ground. They are up there thriving, trying to survive and YOU are the reason everyone is afraid. YOU are the reason everyone is at war!" Ruby snapped.

"Send me back home NOW." Ruby shouted, holding her rifle up at Father.

"I understand your anger but please try to understan…"

"NO I will not try to understand when I know of the atrocities you and your scientists have done!" Ruby interrupted Father. Her finger trailing down closer to the trigger.

"Take me home.. Now"

"You realize once you leave the Institute, you will be considered an enemy. We will hunt you down and we will kill you." Father suddenly grew cold.

"Turning your back on me.. Like you did your father.." Ruby snapped.

The woman caught the Synth next to her lunge for her rifle. Trying to dart away, she could feel her rifle being pulled from her grip. In the struggle the woman's finger slipped over the trigger of the gun and shot several rounds into Father. Elbowing the synth in the face Ruby snapped her rifle out of the Synth's grip. She turned the rifle over to the synth and fired another few rounds into it's head, killing it. The loud echo's from the gun's recoil rang hard into her ears. Her head was pounding. Her dark hues saw Father crumpled down on the ground, blood pouring out of his wounds. His face and eyes lifeless… he was dead. Horror filled her heart. Shaun was dead, yet he was no longer that little boy she so dearly loved. He was now a monster who relentlessly killed innocent lives.

"Nate I'm sorry I couldn't rescue Shaun, but now you two can rest in peace. It's time for everyone's pain to end.." Ruby softly whispered to herself.

Hearing alarms ringing. The woman turned herself back towards the aisle and slipped into the elevator. Several synths chasing after her but where to late, watching their forms grow smaller and smaller as the elevator rose back up to the relay room. Ruby's heart was hammering hard in her chest. The elevator stopped once it reached its destination and Ruby ran straight over to the terminal, activating it so she can be sent back home. Running into the relay room, she slammed the door's button, closing them behind her. Holstering her rifle, she held her hands together tightly, closing her eyes and counting down until the relay made its connection and fired her back up to the surface.

Ruby collapsed down onto the ground…. Alone. To her surprise she wasn't back at the castle, but just outside the Cambridge ruins. Holding up her pipboy, she checked her map. It was time to start making her way back to the castle. It was now War.

 **Authors Note:**

 **I actually took a long time to figure out how I was going to write this chapter. Considering I am following the storyline I played with in game, I needed to figure out a less heartless way in killing Father/Shaun after their first conversation. (Considering I just shot him in game…oops). Big chapter! Chapter updates will be slow, but until then Happy Reading!**

 **Ps: If you guys enjoyed Fallout New Vegas, I am currently writing a FNV fanfic as we speak! It's titled 'The Diary of Courier Six' Happy Reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 13: Mourning for what was always lost**

Hancock slowly sank down on the closest bench near to him. The mayor had remained close to the relay in the castle. He had dare not venture off too far. Would Ruby make it back ok? Did she ever find Shaun? Did the woman ever make off with the codes like she had promised. Or did the Institute kidnap her? Questions kept bubbling up inside of his head, yet he had not allowed himself to become worried. Often he would take a small hit of Jet to calm his nerves. Ruby needed him to be strong. Yet the day had passed, the castle remained quiet and night had finally crawled out. Hancock was beginning to grow worried. The longer the time had passed.. The more of a possibility something happened to the very woman he had grown very attached to. The Mayor had finally pulled himself away from the bench to get a nights rest when he saw something moving by the main castle entryway. Ruby had blocked up the holes in the walls with makeshift fencing to ward off any attackers. Standing slowly up from the bench, Hancock began trotting over to the door when his charcoal hues saw a woman collapse down onto the ground. Her dark navy coat looked familiar, yet he couldn't see her face. The woman's dark hair was covering it. Running over to the doorway, Hancock slid down to the ground, next to the woman's side. He immediately recognized it to be Ruby. Slipping an arm around her shoulders, he picked her up enough to turn her over on her back, patting his pockets for a stimpak.

"Ruby… talk to me love. Come on.." Hancock sighed inwardly.

The woman was hardly responsive, her face had lost what little color she held in her skin. Her cheeks stained with dark streaks from her eye shadow. It looked like she had been crying.

"Preston!" Hancock called out. Waiting for the other man to come around, Hancock pulled Ruby up into his lap and injected a stimpak he found right into her shoulder. The color immediately began to return to the woman's cheeks. This was good.

"Preston get over here! It's Ruby!" Hancock shouted again.

It didn't take long for Preston to run over to the Mayors side. All the reserve the man held in his face was lost seeing the condition of his General.

"She's dehydrated. I need water stat." Hancock ordered.

"Yes sir." Preston stood up, running off to find a cup to fill with water.

Hancock could feel Ruby shifting in his lap. Slowly the woman reached up and rubbed her eyes. Her motions were tired and clumsy.

"What.. Where am I.." Ruby's voice cracked.

"Your back at the castle.." Hancock sighed. Cradling her close, he reached down and rubbed some of the dirt off of her cheek.

"Hey..you" Ruby looked up at the Mayor, a weak smile spreading acrossed her cheeks.

"Glad your ok." Hancock's voice dropped to a whisper.

"I.. it was a long walk back.." The weak smile on the woman's face immediately disappeared. Hancock could almost see tears welling up in her eyes once more.

"Did.. you find Shaun?" Hancock was almost afraid to ask. He could see whatever resolve Ruby held shatter. Reaching up, the woman placed her hands over her tear stained face. Sighing inwardly. She didn't answer.

Preston jogged back over to their side and handed Hancock a large jug of water. The Mayor eagerly took it and held it in front of Ruby, motioning for her to sit up.

"I've got some water here." Hancock's voice dropped back down to a whisper.

Ruby removed her hands from her face and slowly sat up on her own. Reaching out, she gently slipped the jug out of Hancock's hands and chugged it quickly. The cool water was what she needed. She felt burned out and dry on the inside. Much like an ant that had spent to much time under a magnifying glass. Handing the jug back into Hancock's hands she slowly pulled herself back up to her feet. Looking down at the Mayor her eyes slowly closed and opened once more.

"Meet me back in my quarters.. I need to get out of these cloths.. I'll tell you what happened." Ruby sighed.

"Gotcha." Hancock pulled himself up to his feet and nodded.

It didn't take long for Ruby to quickly make her way back to her quarters and strip out of her cloths and slip into a cleaner set. The long trek back from the ruins nearly killed her. Instead of taking her time and setting up a camp for the night, the woman wanted to get back to the castle and not waste any time. She felt vulnerable being alone. Ruby had hardly ever traveled alone in the Commonwealth. Even from day one she had Codsworth at her side. Sitting on the far side of the bed, facing the wall. Ruby heard the heavy oak door slowly open and quickly close. Knowing it was Hancock, Ruby didn't bother turning herself. Instead she buried her face into her hands trying to hold back the impending tears. Feeling the Mayor's weight sink down on the bed close to her, Ruby finally released a sob, her tears streaming down her face.

"Hey…" Hancock whispered. Reaching out her wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him.

Ruby's hand quickly darted up to her face, brushing away the fresh tears. Looking up her hues grew sad. Seeing the concern riddled over Hancock's face. Ruby gently frowned, looking back down at the floor.

"Shaun isn't alive Hancock.. I.. killed him.." The words slipping out of her mouth almost felt surreal.

"Ruby.. I.." Hancock stammered.

"No…He wasn't the Shaun I was searching for he.. He.. He no longer went by that name. He went by Father.. and he was an old man." Ruby wiped away the tears welling around the corners over her eyes.

"How.." Hancock's gaze caught up with Ruby's. She looked torn apart, exhausted, lost.

"The first time I woke up in the Vault was when Kellogg took Shaun away from Nate. I was frozen once more for some time before I woke up again. During that time.. Sixty years had passed and Shaun had been brainwashed by the Institute and became director.." Ruby sighed.

"I had wanted to go home Hancock, I didn't want to listen to the lies.. He invited me to join him in the Institute.. But I didn't want to hear it. I just wanted to go home…. But.." Ruby began to sob. "A synth went to take my gun away from me and my finger slipped on the trigger and I shot Shaun to death. I killed my own son." The woman looked up at the Mayor. Her whole form had shuddered at the thought.

"He wasn't your son anymore love, it was an accident.. You made the right choice in not siding with the Institute. At least you know that both your son and your late husband can finally rest in peace." Hancock straightened himself, reaching out and gently grabbing Ruby by her shoulders. His dark charcoal hues searching her own dark brown eyes.

"I had held on to a small sliver of hope that I could hold onto a small part of my old life. That isn't the case anymore but now its time I move forward with my life and start a new life. Here with you, once the Institute is gone." Ruby had stopped sobbing, her body finally relaxing.

"There's the girl I know.." Hancock gave Ruby a soft smile, Reaching out, he thumbed away her final tears and nodded.

#

Ruby had given herself several days to relax and gather her strength back up before she decided to address the rest of the Minutemen for the impending war with the Institute. It was going to be a complicated battle to plan out but Ruby was wanting to make sure she had a clear head before she started the process. Both Preston and Hancock had been nothing but supportive. Giving Ruby all the time she needed to finish mourning and be ready to move forward. Raking her fingers through her hair Ruby stood up from the bed and walked over to the dresser. The broken mirror reflecting back a new face. Granted Ruby had practically suffered a mental break down. She felt a stronger sense of resolve and strength. No longer was she torn between her duty and her past. From now on she could focus on the future. War.. War never changes but at least Ruby knew the future could lead to peace. Turning herself away from the dresser. The woman reached out and pulled her navy jacket over her arms, proudly wearing her General's uniform.

Walking out of her quarters. Ruby's gaze met with Hancock's. The Mayor was quietly sitting down on a bench near her quarters. She gave him a gentle smile and nodded for him to come follow her. Preston was leaning up against a wall of the Castle. Walking up to his side, the man immediately straightened himself.

"I need you to gather everyone here. I have an address to make.." Ruby gave Preston a sharp smile.

"Yes ma'am." Preston nodded and made his way further down the castle hall.

Ruby made her way to one of the hills near one of the fallen walls. Hancock stood close behind her. Waiting for everyone to gather, the woman looked back over her shoulder, shooting the Mayor a gentle smile to which he returned.

Seeing as a big enough crowd had gathered in the Courtyard, Ruby cleared her throat and stood tall. A gentle breeze blew acrossed the castle, causing the woman's dark coat to whip around her legs.

"Minutemen.. People of the Commonwealth. I have been inside the Institute.. I have seen the atrocities that they have placed upon us on the surface. They think that they are necessary to the progression of humanity. Yet when we sit idly by, they attack and harm us. They think that they can bully us around and expect us to just roll over while they try and take over. Enough is enough! From today and on into the future. We will bring the Institute down to its knees and who ever else threatens the name of peace! No more war, no more lives taken. That is my vow as your General!" Ruby shouted.

Hearing the crowd erupt into a large cheer. A large smile spread acrossed Ruby's cheeks. Her eyes growing bright. Turning her head back over to Hancock, she could see how impressed he was. The Mayor moved himself over to her side and nudged her shoulder.

"You give good speeches love. Maybe I should just make you Mayor of Goodneighbor." He chuckled.

"Oh.. That job is yours. Being General is enough of a job for me." Ruby laughed.

Hancock reached out and pulled Ruby into a tight kiss. Moaning softly, the woman reached up and cupped his cheeks. She broke the kiss and lowered her hands.

"Hancock."

"Shoot."

"I've been thinking. When all of this is said and done. I really haven't felt home anywhere here in the Commonwealth since I woke up from the Vault.. And I want to finally settle down somewhere. I need a place to call home." Ruby's dark hues gazed up into Hancock's.

"You want to head back over to the light house?" The Mayor inquired.

"No.." Ruby laughed. "I want to go to Goodneighbor.. that's if, you'll have me." She tipped her head.

"You even got to ask?" Hancock smirked.

"Just making sure." She shrugged.

"Of course. Goodneighbor is just as much as my town as its yours." Hancock pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you." Ruby laid her head down on his shoulder. A sense of belonging beginning to swirl.

 **Authors Note:**

 **A sad chapter but I wanted to end it on a lighter note! I'll be honest these past two chapters haven't been easy to write! I hope you all have enjoyed the story thus far. Its far from over!**


	14. Chapter 14

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 14: Letting go for new beginnings**

Ruby had never felt so alive since she woke up from her frozen tomb. Finally was the woman able to focus on the future. No longer did she have anything tying her to her past. Despite the hurt of losing her son, Ruby had drove that anger into what finally needed to be done. That was taking down the Institute. Once more she was back on the road with Hancock trailing not far behind. She felt like she had more of a purpose now. Pulling off her dark tricorn hat, Ruby raked her fingers through her hair, pulling it out of her face briefly before setting her hat back down on top of her head. The breeze from the cool September air had almost chilled her to the bone. The summer had been long and hot but it was good to feel fall welcoming them back once more. Turning her gaze back over her shoulder Ruby's hues looked over at Hancock's form. He never lost that swagger when he walked. Even when he wasn't paying attention the Mayor would swing his hips with each step he took. That red frock blowing up behind him as the wind caught it. Getting the sense the woman was gawking at him, he turned his dark charcoal eyes over to her, giving her a warm smile.

"Can't get enough of my handsome face can you." Hancock laughed.

"Nope, never enough." Ruby returned with a warm smile.

The woman turned herself forward, continuing on the path in front of her. She was hoping to unite all of her settlements together to help bring in more forces against the Institute. While the numbers in the Castle weren't bad, any extra help anyone was willing to offer would help their cause even more. It was all about strategy, they were to slip in fight their way over to the Nuclear plant that had supplied the Institute with power and plant charges to blow it up from the inside. It was going to be the only way to take care of them. Ruby didn't like it, but to end this once and for all, it was what needed to be done. She was willing to make that sacrifice for her people and the people of the Commonwealth. Slowing her pace, she noticed that the sun was beginning to set on the horizon. Looking back over her shoulder she gazed back at Hancock, who had immediately stopped walking when she did.

"It's beginning to get dark out, let's set up camp." Ruby recommended.

"Good call." Hancock nodded.

The pair began to look around for a building to call home for the night when Ruby found a seemingly abandoned cave. Calling Hancock over, she stood at the mouth of the cave cradling her rifle in her arms.

"What do you think about here? I never spent the night in a cave before." She chuckled.

"Any ghouls in there?" Hancock's brow lifted.

"None but you." Ruby giggled.

Reaching over, Ruby slung her rifle over her shoulder and pressed the light button on her Pipboy. The screen lighting up the small cave. Not a single creature had laid claim to it. Much to the woman's relief. For all she knew the cave could have been home to a very hungry Yao Guai but the bear would of immediately attacked the moment she had approached the mouth.

"I'll get a fire started." Hancock suggested.

"Sounds good, I'll gather any supplies we need for the evening. Meet you up here in ten?" Ruby inquired.

"Yup."

"Alright."

Ruby wandered away from the mouth of the small cave. Pulling her rifle off of her shoulder, she once again cradled it in her arms, keeping her finger off the trigger until she needed to use it. Walking down the roadway a bit, her eye caught sight of a small run down shack on the far edge of the road. Trotting her way over to it, she brought her rifle up close against her shoulder. The woman sunk down to her knees and snuck over to the doorway, her hues looking around her surroundings. Slowly the woman peered around the corner, seeing the small shack had no inhabitants. Standing up to her feet, she took immediate notice of a sink full of fresh cut Mutfruit. Slinging the rifle over her shoulder once again, She took a few of the fruits, leaving some of them left over in the sink. Ruby trotted out of the worn down shack and back down the roadway, following the small pathway back to the mouth of the cave. Hancock had already had the fire going when they met back up.

"Damn you work quick." She gave him a small smile. "I found some Mutfruit." Ruby held out the large pieces of fruit, offering to give Hancock what he wanted.

"Thanks love. These look good." He rumbled, taking one of the fruits out of her hands. Moving over to the mouth of the cave, the woman set down the rest of the fruits down by their small pile of supplies. Turning herself, she took a step over to Hancock's side and sank down, sitting next to him.

Hancock set the fruit down in his lap, reaching over her gently took Ruby's left hand into his own, stroking her soft fingers with his thumbs. That's when it hit him. She wasn't wearing her wedding band, she always wore it.

"Hey. I noticed your not wearing your wedding band." His eyes gazed over her form.

Taking her free hand, Ruby had pulled off her tricorn hat and set it down beside her, raking her fingers through her hair. Not answering the woman gently cleared her throat and pulled her left hand away from him.

"I… well.. Hmm.. About that.." The woman began stammering.

"Shoot." Hancock pressed.

Taking a soft breath in. Ruby pulled herself back up to her feet. Walking over to the pile of supplies near the mouth of the cave. The woman zipped open her pack and pulled out a small bag that she had inside of it. Walking back over to Hancock's side she slowly sank down next to him, pulling her feet under her. Gently reaching over, Ruby had placed the small velveteen bag into Hancock's hands. A weak smile nervously spreading her cheeks.

"What's this?" Hancock inquired.

"Open it up.. I was hoping to wait until after we had attacked the Institute to give you this but I guess this is as good as anytime." Her voice wavered.

Hancock held the bag in his hand, almost cradling it. Obviously it had meant a lot to Ruby. Moving his fingers, he opened the bag up and flipped it over, gently spilling the contents out into his palm. Two silver rings jumped out. One big enough to fit his finger, and the smaller one for her. He knew exactly what it meant.

"I.. I know it might be a bit early in the relationship to be thinking about this.. Kind of…". Hancock immediately leaned close to Ruby, cutting her off mid-sentence with a deep kiss. Cupping her cheek, he gently pulled back, searching her dark hues. She seemed nervous still.

"It.. Its not marriage by any means but take it as my symbol of commitment Hancock. I made these rings when I felt like I was able to finally let go of my past.. I want you apart of my future." Ruby's hues gazed up at him, her brows raised.

"Yes love. Of course." Hancock smiled brightly.

Ruby looked immediately relieved. Taking the smaller ring, Hancock gently held up her hand and slid the small silver band around her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. In turn, Ruby took his band and slipped it over his own finger. How Ruby managed to figure out his ring size blew his mind but the craftsmanship was something he never seen before. Jewelry was a rare commodity out in the Commonwealth.

"Making jewelry was a side hobby of mine before I got married." Ruby laughed.

"Nothin' can compare love." Hancock returned the smile, reaching up and running his finger over her scarred cheek gently. Ruby tipped her head into his hand, gently nuzzling her cheek against it. Without hesitating, the woman then moved herself closer to him, pulling off her navy jacket and laying it down beside them. She straddled his lap and began kissing his neck. Hancock groaned a bit, moving his hands around to her sides and hugging onto her tightly.

"Good timing." He laughed.

The Mayor moved his fingers slowly up under her white shirt feeling her smooth skin shiver under his touch. He could feel her breathing hitch every time he touched her. Leaning close to her face, he pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. Ruby returned it, her arm reaching up and slowly pulling off the Tricorn hat that ever adorned his head. Hancock moved his hands away from under her shirt and reached up, cupping the woman's cheeks. Breaking off the gentle kiss, he cradled her close.

"Ruby."

"Yes?"

"You are beautiful." Hancock smiled warmly.

"Thank you." The woman's cheeks began to grow red.

Leaning close once more, the Mayor pressed another gentle kiss on her lips, shrugging off his red frock with Ruby's help. This night was looking to be more like a fun night romp in the woods then an evening to rest. The thought made the Mayor smile.

#

The woman's muscles ached, screamed and groaned every time she took a step. She felt tired, yet when she looked over her shoulder, Hancock stood behind her, smiling as wide as ever. Not an ounce of pain showing on his face. The damn Mayor got lucky. Sighing outwardly, she turned herself to face him.

"I don't get it."

"Get what." Hancock frowned.

"Our romping around last night, and I am the one who feels like crap." Ruby laughed.

The frown immediately melted off the Mayor's face, being replaced with a smile.

"Well, you signed up for that when you got together with me." Hancock chuckled.

"Not complaining….much." Ruby gave him a warm smile and turned herself back around.

"Sure." Hancock laughed from behind her.

"One of these days.." Ruby dropped her voice.

Walking down the road, the woman held her rifle close to her, keeping the gun cradled close to her form, her finger always hovering over the trigger. Her tricorn hat doing a good job keeping the sun out of her eyes. When she initially aquired the Minutemen General's outfit, she insisted on not wearing the hat thinking it looked dorky. Yet the more the woman had felt like she was honestly making a difference in the Commonwealth as General, the more she grew to like the hat. Walking up the slight hill, she had finally made it back to Sanctuary Hills, Hancock not trailing far behind. Turning herself back around to face him, her hues softened.

"I wouldn't of thought we would of made it back so quickly." Ruby tipped her head.

"I could of swore you would of taken double the time with how slow you were walking love." Hancock cackled.

"Shhhhhh." Ruby snapped, a playful smirk tugging at the side of her lips.

"Jeeze I figured I would of never seen you two again." A voice called out a bit of a distance away.

Ruby turned herself, her dark hues immediately caught sight of an old tan tattered coat and fedora.

It was Nick

Slinging her rifle over her shoulder, Ruby had immediately relaxed and trotted over to the old Synth, nearly knocking him over with a hug. Chuckling, Nick immediately returned the embrace, patting the woman's back briefly before she pulled away.

"Nicky.. It's been some time." Ruby smiled brightly.

"Yes it has.. I was wondering if you were ever going to come back." Nick gave the woman a soft grin.

"Got…caught up with duty.. You know how Preston can be." The woman chuckled.

"Ah yes, I hope he is well?" He inquired.

"Yeah, he's doing good."

"I heard that you made it into the Institute.. You ever find your son?" Nick pressed.

The air immediately felt heavy. Ruby lowered her head and swallowed hard before looking back up at her old friend.

"He.. uhm.. He didn't make it Nick." Ruby sighed.

"Ahhh.. Ruby I'm sorry.." Nick's voice immediately dropped at the news

Feeling arms wrap around her tightly Nick had gave her a supporting hug, Ruby appreciated it. It was going to take time for the burn of Shaun betraying her to slowly fade away. But now was the time to look forward and no longer mourn.

"He's with his father now Nick. That's all I can really ask for." The woman sighed.

The old Synth slowly let go and took a step back, only nodding at what the woman had said. She was right and had seemed at peace with the loss of her son.

"We're taking down the Institute.. I could use your help back at the Castle." Ruby changed the subject, her hues brightening.

"Count me in." Nick beamed.

"Good."

 **Authors Note:**

 **Hey all! I am so sorry for the long wait. I ended up going up to Canada for 3 weeks for vacation so I had been away from my computer. I am back though! Hope you all didn't miss me too much. I am currently working on chapter 15, update might be a bit slow (Not 3 weeks slow I promise you that) as I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Thank you all for the love!**


	15. Chapter 15

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 15: War Declared**

The day had grown steadily hot, the sun beating down on the treeless abyss of the Commonwealth. Ruby felt an itch growing under one of her sleeves of that dark navy coat she had always adorned. Which had been previously claimed by the dead General before her . That almost felt like a long time ago. Ruby knew what was exactly going to happen. Since her strike on the Institute, she was anticipating the Institute to strike back on the castle. Taking what little time she had, she had gathered forces together to help defend the Minutemen's new home. Shrugging her arms a bit to shake off the itch, her eyes caught up in the gaze of Hancock's. The Mayor seemed more relaxed then she felt. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Adjusting her assault rifle close to herself she took in a deep breath and focused forward. The air was growing tense. She could almost feel the world around them grow quiet of the impending war.

That's when it happened. The call from her comrades out just beyond the wall of the Castle. A large amount of synths were coming, all armed to the teeth. Ruby hated war. Her long dead husband had been caught up in the war so many years ago. Peace wasn't something the woman really ever knew. Her whole life it had seemed like one nation was always in conflict with the other. Resources had been dwindling and nations fought for control. Yet after her husband had retired from the armed forces, she tried to find that peace to only have it all taken away from her. The old saying was true. War, war never changed. Yet she wasn't going to let the past change what she had planned for the future. Bounding away from her spot. The woman dragged herself close to the wall, found a spot and started firing off shots at the force lining up against the walls. Her people fired, the other force fired back. Her mind went blank, her senses focused. Ruby knew Hancock could take care of himself in this. It wasn't the first time he fought in a war. Laying low against the ground, the woman could feel the occasional whiz of a laser shot in her direction, the heat from the round too close for comfort.

Narrowing her eyes, Ruby lined up her shot and fired. Her bullet flew out of the gun and right between the eyes of a Courser. The body of the synth collapsing down onto the ground. She knew there was nothing she could do to help them. They were just following Institute orders, but any way she could lure them away would result in disaster.

Her eye caught a quick glimpse of a red frock leaning down next to her, several loud shots escaping from his gun. Hancock was handling his own well.

"You think we can make it through this?" Ruby whispered.

"Now isn't the time to start doubting your forces love." Hancock whispered back.

It was all Ruby needed to hear.

The woman stood up and gave the Mayor a quick nod in agreement. Stepping away from her last spot. Ruby jogged over to a new spot taking shots after the seemingly endless waves of Synths approaching the castle. Some of her own comrades fell to their deaths. Yet not focusing in on the casualties yet. She kept firing, kept reloading and kept herself focused. They would win this war. The numbers began slowing down from the opposing force, until there was no more left…. For now.. Unless they finally struck down the Institute.

Standing up slowly, Ruby turned her head and saw Preston waving along the opposite side of the Castle. It was a signal that all things were clear on his side. Waving back, the woman dropped her arm and turned herself over to Hancock. Her dark hues searching his.

"It's almost over." She whispered.

The mayor only nodded

Ruby motioned for everyone to regroup in the center of the Castle. Adjusting herself, she sighed softly waiting for everyone to gather. Hancock was back behind her shoulder once more. Looking forward, her dark hues looked down at the faces of the many settlers and Minutemen. Everyone gazed back up at her with such hope in their eyes. Taking a breath out slowly Ruby smiled warmly.

"You have all fought very bravely today. But this is only the beginning. We will need to strike down the Institute if we want this all to end. We need to find a way inside and blow them up. Just because the leader is dead does not mean the Institute is dead. They will continue to try and strike us down just like they have today. We can't keep putting up with this. Now is the time to take them down, when they are least expecting it. When they are at their weakest." Ruby's voiced carried through-out the castle walls.

Turning herself, the woman's eyes caught up with the gaze of Hancock. The Mayor smiled warmly at her once again. She had proven herself to not only take down the leader of the Institute but to hold against an attack. This was all she needed to gain full support to take down the Institute. To not only go inside but to have the numbers to come with her in the attack. She knew people were nervous. She was nervous but there was no better time.

#

Sneaking into the Institute was no easy feat for anyone. Ruby and Hancock and both snuck into one of the many unguarded drainage pipes and fought their way deep into the belly of the Institute. The pair hadn't stopped there. They managed to slip by many Feral ghouls, brainwashed synths and turrets until they snuck in so deep they managed to find relay control room she had beamed in not to long ago the first time. The first time the woman was here she had been alone and honestly felt more alone here then when she first woke up to the wasteland. Yet this time Hancock was right by her side covering her like he always had. He had always kept her calm and focused. It was nice having an extra pair of eyes and ears and a comforting word when needed.

Slipping into the chair, Ruby placed her rifle down and slipped in the holotape. Making the quick connection, she opened up the portal and allowed her comrades to teleport in. A bright flash of light and a hum whooshed in the other room as the others all nearly crumpled down to the floor. That first teleportation was always rough. Pulling out the holotape and taking her rifle back in hand. Ruby met with the others and gave Preston a nod.

"You ready?" The woman gave him a weak smile.

"Ready as ever General." Preston tipped his hat.

"Sounds good, lets go."

Ruby lead her small group through the many hallways of the Institute. They fought with such bravery and valor. Endless waves of Synths attacked them and occasionally one of their own would fall, but this was a time the Minutemen had game back in glory and had proved to the Commonwealth that they were there to get things done. They were no longer a weak group. Room by room, group by group they kept fighting, getting closer and closer to the power station deep inside of the Institute. Something they could use to their advantage. Hancock would occasionally shoot Ruby a supporting nod, a weak smile. She would return the same to him.

Leading the group deep into the bowels of the Institute. It didn't take long to reach the power room. While the rest of her comrades had busied themselves fighting off the seemingly endless numbers of Synths. Ruby snuck her way to the core of the power reactor and slapped a charge on it. Quickly moving away from the reactor. She stormed down the stairs firing off a few rounds to each of the synths that kept attacking. Signaling for the group to retreat back to the relay room. They stopped trying to clear the room and ran off back into the lobby hall.

That's when it hit the woman. She needed to evacuate those who weren't caught up in the Institute's dirty deeds. Those just trying to escape or many of those who simply didn't understand. They were just about to hit the elevator leading to the lower relay rooms when Ruby stopped dead in her tracks. The elevator leading up to her now dead son's room was behind her.

"Hold up!" Ruby called up. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

"Listen love we shouldn't sit out here in the open, we need to go." Hancock called out to her.

"I need to signal an evacuation.. Please don't wait for me.." Ruby motioned for them to head on without her. Turning her back. She gripped her rifle close to her and ran for the elevator behind her.

"Ruby!" Hancock called out for her. Yet she ignored his pleas. She knew he would understand. She knew he wouldn't forgive her if she was claimed by death's claws yet this was the last thing she needed to do. She wasn't about to have the blood of thousands of innocent lives on her hands. As the elevator rose, the woman's heart hammered in her chest. She closed her dark hues and took in a slow deep breath calming herself. The elevator stopped and opened. Just giving her enough time to refocus.

Darting out of the elevator. The woman climbed a set of stairs, surprised to see nobody had met her here. Slinging the rifle over her shoulder. She walked up to a seemingly obvious desk. That's when her eyes met up with the dead body of her old son. His arms lay folded. Eyes closed. He was covered up to his chest in a blanket. They had been mourning his passing. Shuddering at the sight. Ruby turned herself back to the computer in front of her and sighed hard. Scrolling through her options she finally found what she needed. The evacuation signal. Pressing the key, she initiated the signal and straightened herself up. The woman's eyes darted back over to the dead body of her son.

"You weren't ever going to win this war." Ruby sighed.

Turning away she ran back down the flight of stairs and back into the elevator. Her nerves growing deep into the pits of her stomach once more. She did this once before, escaped this hell hole. Pulling the rifle off of her shoulder, the elevator lowered back down on its platform and opened up. Ruby ran out into the lobby and was surprised to see her group had hunkered down behind some cover firing at the synths that had been constantly approaching them.

I They didn't leave her behind.. They waited for her.

"Guys lets go!" Ruby called out.

Without a second thought. The group left the lobby and escaped back into the relay room.

#

They stood on that tall building a great distance away from where the Institute had laid buried deep into the ground. A small group of Minutemen, Hancock and Ruby. It was all up to her. They stood behind their General no matter her choice. They had stood behind her since she first became General. They had stood behind her as she united the many settlements along the Commonwealth and created a force to stand behind. A force to believe in. Not one where they had judged you based on who you were or where you came from. They had stood behind her after the attack on the Castle and finally stood with her in the attack on the Institute, not even thinking of leaving her behind. She was proud of them, she was proud of Hancock and her other companions for believing in her and now it was all up to her. Walking up to the button, the woman's hand gently hovered it. She closed her hues and counted down from ten, wanting to give as much time as possible for everyone to escape. Ruby's eyes shot open and her hand slammed down on the button.

The ground rumbled from below. Suddenly a large explosion erupted from deep within the ground. The Institute had been destroyed. Gone. No longer were they around to cause anymore nightmares and terrors. No more did the people of the Commonwealth had to worry if they or a loved one would be kidnapped and replaced. The Synths could live out their lives from now on without fear of recapture. Stepping away from the button. Ruby turned herself away, her heart sank. She knew it wasn't an easy choice but it was a necessary decision. The others had left her alone, but she felt an arm drop over her shoulders. Looking up, the woman's dark hues met with Hancock's. She smiled weakly.

"You made the right choice love." Hancock reached up and drew his fingers down the bridge of her nose gently.

"I know. It wasn't easy though. Who know how many innocents were still in there." Ruby sighed, her eyes growing sadder.

"Then let their sacrifice mean something." Hancock pulled her in closer.

Ruby didn't say a word. She laid her head down on his shoulder and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, her nerves calming down once again.

 **Authors Note:**

 **I am back! This chapter was incredibly hard to write. Not so much due to the plot since it followed the game but more so due to the fact that I HATE writing extended fighting scenes. I hope you enjoyed it though. Updates should be a bit quicker now though since I will be taking this story along a more original storyline now. (I am not following the DLCS) Thank you for sticking with me this far! Also don't forget if you enjoy Fallout New Vegas I do have a ongoing story called "The Diary of Courier Six" So check it out and give that story some love too. Until then. Happy reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 16: A new world**

All of the woman's muscles ached. She wanted to sink deep into a tub of near boiling water and just melt all of the pain away. Though Ruby didn't really have that option anymore of just soaking in a hot candle lit bath. Oh how she took used to take the simplest things from her past for granted. Chuckling at the thought, the woman slowly pulled herself out of the worn out king sized bed in Hancock's room. Unlike the settlements that Ruby had set up in the past, Hancock would keep the State House in low light. She figured it had to do with the sensitivity one would encounter after coming off of a high. Placing both of her feet down on the floor, the woman out stretched her arms and rolled her shoulders, a cold shiver ran up her back. She was going to need to find a pair of better cloths then this loose shirt she stole from Hancock the night previous. Slowly raising up to her feet, Ruby walked over to the ripped up chair she tossed her cloths on and dropped the loose shirt down onto the floor. That's when she heard the floor boards behind her groan. Not hesitating, Ruby snapped up her rifle and whipped around, not caring that she was nude.

"Whoa whoa.. I didn't think it was that bad last night." Hancock raised his hands, cracking a weak joke.

Ruby immediately lowered her rifle and set it back down next to the chair. Chuckling she reached over and grabbed her sun bleached t-shirt.

"Sorry for that." Ruby had her back turned towards Hancock and she shifted through her cloths on the chair.

Yet he didn't answer. Ruby could feel the floor boards shifting as he moved closer. The Mayors hot breath growing on the back of her neck. Hancock moved his arms around her bare waist, hugging her tightly against him, his warm lips kissing at the nape of her neck.

"Sure know how to make a girl melt." Ruby chuckled softly.

"Oh love I could do a lot more then that." The Mayor rumbled.

"I don't doubt that." Ruby slowly pulled away from his arms. Turning herself around, she reached out and ran her fingers down his cheek. Hancock smiled warmly under her touch. Ruby stepped away from his form, taking her shirt she pulled it over her head, getting quickly dressed before anyone else had the chance to walk in on her. Reaching over she slipped into her underwear and pants with relative ease.

Hancock moved over to couch in the farthest corner of the room. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, slowly sinking down into the old musty couch. Taking a drag in from the cigarette Hancock smiled seeing Ruby standing on the other side of the room. He had admired her courage in leading the Minutemen in a victorious battle against the Institute. Yet it wasn't only that. She had united a group of broken down men and women and gave them hope and something to believe in. It was like the woman had taken a page out from his book and ran further with it then Hancock ever could. He not only admired her, and cared deeply for her. He loved her. He was madly in love with this woman. To see the stress gone from her face and a sense of ease and happiness replace it was wonderful. To see this woman he cared so much for now living with him in Goodneighbor. Even better. Seeing her sit down on his, no.. their bed to slip on her boots made him smile even more. The simplest things that she did day to day were beautiful. She was beautiful.

Ruby's eye caught Hancock staring at her, a big dopey smile stretched acrossed his face. Sitting up from the worn bed, she pushed her foot down into her boot before she slowly stood up and made her way over to the couch Hancock nestled himself in. She sank down into the couch and cuddled up against Hancock feeling his arm wrap around her shoulder.

"Hancock."

"Shoot."

"Thoughts?" Ruby laid her head down on his shoulder, her dark hues slowly closing. She could feel the way Hancock's breathing slowed down and grow more calm the closer she brought herself to him

"Just…" Hancock paused. "How much I love you."

Ruby could feel her heart immediately swell. Lifting her head a bit off of his shoulder, she looked up at him. Their gazes meeting.

"I love you." Ruby smiled softly.

Leaning over, Hancock placed a gentle kiss on her lips and leaned back into the couch once again, feeling the woman cuddling up against his chest. His life may have been hell. His brother might of turned against the Ghouls in Diamond City. He may have lost a lot of his friends, his brother, people he trusted, himself. All of those roads traveled were worth it to find Ruby. To even have this woman grace his life and give him someone to trust, someone to love, someone to give him hope in life once again. Leaning over briefly, Hancock extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray sitting on the table next to them. He had gotten caught up in Ruby's beauty that he completely forgot to smoke it. The thought gave him a brief chuckle.

"So…" Ruby broke the silence. "What are your plans for today?"

"I need to catch up with Fahrenheit about what's been going on around town." Hancock gazed down at her.

Ruby leaned up and sighed out softly.

"What about you. Headed to the Third Rail?" The Mayor inquired.

"Ha.. Ha that will probably be later. I need to start writing up a peace treaty." Ruby tipped her head.

"Oh? My work always seems small time compared to yours. What is this peace treaty?" Hancock's brow rose.

"After the collapse of the Institute I cant keep having our factions fighting each other. I know the Railroad and Brotherhood are gearing up for war, so I am meeting up with the leaders of both to draw up a peace treaty and avoid anymore conflict." Ruby sighed.

"Smart thinking." Hancock nudged her.

#

Ruby sat back a bit, her brown eyes taking in sights around her. A small glass of whisky cradled in her left hand. Magnolia stood on that small stage set up in The Third Rail, the lights dancing off of the red dress of hers. She was hypnotic. Ruby really missed Goodneighbor. It was really one of the only places where she felt safe, well safer from the usual threats like Deathclaws. Crossing her legs. She settled her glass of whisky down on the bar, her thoughts running over the meeting for the peace treaty. Would the Brotherhood agree to leave the Railroad alone? Would the Railroad still wish to declare war on the Brotherhood? It was tough. The woman knew she was going to really have to pull herself together to be able to pull this off. Taking down a dangerous Institution was hard enough but having 3 different factions agree to a peace treaty was a whole new level of tough. Ruby had heard passing stories of the Brotherhood in the West teaming up and becoming close allies with the NCR. If it was possible for them, it could be possible for the Brotherhood in the Commonwealth.

Reaching back over to her glass of whisky, Ruby's fingers reached tightly around the glass. Raising it up to her lips, she took a deep swig of the sharp alcohol, shaking her head a bit. Warmth spread to her limbs, a small smile spreading acrossed her lips. The last thing the woman wanted to do was have to play babysitter with everyone in the Commonwealth but she seemingly volunteered herself when she decided to declare a time of peace. With the completion of one big task came yet another.

"Hey babe, you alone here?" A blonde haired man sank down close to Ruby, leaning against the bar.

The woman was caught off guard. Looking up at the obviously drunk man, she gave him a polite smile. "Not exactly."

"Oh?" The man looked around the room before focusing back on Ruby. "I don't see anyone in here with you." He cackled.

"Look, You are obviously drunk, but you should know who I am. Come on.." Ruby sighed. She was beginning to grow annoyed.

"Everyone knows who you are babe, You are the General of the Minutemen. You saved everyone of us from… ohh.. Certain doom." The blonde man's sarcasm was growing. "You should let me repay you." He smiled.

"How so?" Ruby leaned back a bit, the smile long faded off of her face.

The blonde man leaned close to Ruby, his drunken glazed eyes suggesting more then what the woman wish to know.

"Oh come on baby do you really want me to have to explain in front of everybody?" He cackled.

Ruby's hand immediately snapped up to the man's face. Gripping his jaw, she squeezed his face and cheeks hard until his lips puckered. He was having a hard time breathing out of his nose. Slowly leaning up she gripped his face harder, her eyes growing dark and cold.

"I suggest you leave, right now before I tell the Mayor. I'm a lot nicer then he is." Ruby snapped. Letting go of the man's face, she shoved him away from her, her teeth bared a bit in disgust.

The drunken man wasted no time in scurrying away from the woman, nearly running into that now familiar Red Frock. Raising his arms up, he ran up the stairs disappearing from Ruby's sight.

"Damn love, remind me not to piss you off." Hancock laughed behind her.

Ruby looked over her shoulder back at him. Her eyes immediately brightening. Chuckling, she reached back out to her whisky, cradling the cup between her two hands.

Hancock walked over to Ruby's side, leaning against the bar, he looked down at the woman and chuckled once more.

"You alone here beautiful?" Hancock joked.

Ruby slowly turned her head, her eyes narrowing playfully. "You offering me a night away from the dreaded lonesomeness I suffer from every night?" Ruby played.

Hancock reached out and ran his hand down Ruby's soft cheek, smiling warmly. "I can take it all away."

Ruby nearly melted right then and there. She knew her and the Mayor were joking but he had a way of reaching right in and tugging her heart strings.

"Don't tell me you saw all that." The woman rolled her eyes.

"Sure did!" Hancock slowly pulled away from her side, sinking down on the stool next to hers.

Ruby placed her glass down back on the bar and reached up with her left hand, running her fingers through her dark tresses a sigh escaping her lips.

"Don't tell me you dealt with those types back in your time." Hancock shook his head.

"You know, some things just don't change." She chuckled. "I wouldn't change it though. This.. This is where I belong. I've searched and searched for a place where I would feel like home but this is it." Ruby picked up her glass and spun the liquor around a bit. Her dark hues gazing down.

"You don't know how happy that makes me." Hancock reached out and placed a hand gently on her arm.

Ruby looked over, a smile spreading wide acrossed her face.

"I'm finally home."

 **Authors Note:**

 **Really trying to push out chapters on a more regular rate. Story is far from over. I've got a whole new original story arc coming up! I hope you enjoy it! Until then, Happy Reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

**On Thin Ice**

 **Chapter 17: Meeting**

It was raining hard outside, the air was cold and heavy. Ruby and Hancock had managed to make it back to the Castle in no time. As much as the woman wanted to take a break from her duty and just seemingly hide deep in Goodneighbor she couldn't just ignore her people now that the Institute had been taken down. The woman looked down at her gloved hands, hooking her fingers together and standing up straight. Not to long ago she had sent out invitations to the Brotherhood and the Railroad to meet at the Minutemen headquarters to discuss the treaty. It was a neutral zone for both of the factions to get together. Yet Ruby knew by holding it here, the ball was in her court. She knew she wasn't alone here, she could hear the choppers moving over head, the crashing of loud and heavy feet dropping and moving in. It was intense. Yet this was the Minutemen headquarters and she was there General. She needed to remain tough. She needed to remain vigilant. If anyone had struck out at either her or her people she would retaliate. Ruby had hoped it wouldn't get to that point.

The heavy oak door slowly swung open, Ruby's dark eyes immediately focused in. It was Hancock. That red frock giving it all away, looking up at him she could read that tension behind his eyes.

"Hey you ok?" Ruby whispered.

"Brotherhood is here. Y'know they aint too fond of Ghouls." Hancock sighed

"Yeah" Ruby's head bowed a bit. "I'm hoping to change all of this. Once and for all." Ruby looked back up at him.

Hancock's face softened a bit, Ruby gave him a weak smile. Taking a step up to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close.

"We've got this ok." Ruby whispered.

"I never once doubted you." Hancock pulled back a bit, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.

The pair could hear heavy feet moving in close to the room. Both of them immediately pulled apart and took their spots. Ruby reached up softly and adjusted her tricorn hat lower onto her forehead, crossing her arms in front of her. The oak door once again opened and their visitors didn't look happy at all.

A tall man buried his hands deep into his pockets. Eyes more stern then anyone could ever describe. His dark hues gazed around the room, his jaw muscles clenching. Sighing deeply he turned to one of his subordinates and motioned them to leave the room. The man turned himself back towards Ruby, burying his hands deep inside of his thick leather coat. Gritting his teeth the man narrowed his eyes, his brows sinking down on his forehead into a frown.

"Will you get that thing out of here?" The man motioned at Hancock, his lip turned upwards in disgust.

"No, he's my second in command so he stays here with me." Ruby fired back, her own eyes narrowing. She wasn't impressed with this man and she certainly wasn't going to back down to him.

"I.. see.." The man turned himself from Ruby and walked around the conference room, his hand reaching up to stroke his long beard.

Ruby's turned herself a bit, looking over her shoulder she saw Hancock pull out a pack of cigarettes and light one up, taking a short drag. She figured it was his way of keeping himself from wanting to crack a smart one at anyone. His dark coal hues caught her gaze, nodding at her. Hancock gave Ruby a supporting smirk, taking in another drag from his cigarette.

Ruby turned herself back around, her brown eyes returning their gaze on the visitor. He had continued to walk around the room, gazing at the worn paintings. The man moved his hands from the pockets of his coat to behind him. His posture straight and proper. Slowly making it back over to the door, his gaze moved from the wall over to the woman. Once again Ruby could see him gritting his teeth.

"So.. You are the one I heard about taking down the Institute. Is that right?" His nose almost wrinkled in disgust once again.

"That's no lie." Ruby tipped her head.

"Surprising, knowing the history with the Minutemen I didn't think they were possible of such a feat." The man turned his back towards her.

"Well that's why its called history, sir." Ruby snapped.

The man turned himself around, staring down sharply at the woman, gritting his teeth.

"I am Elder Maxson, of the Brotherhood reporting for your request to discuss this.. Peace treaty. As you call it." The man dipped his head.

"Ruby, General of the Minutemen. I appreciate you considering this. For the future of the Commonwealth. The leader of the Railroad should be here shortly. Then we can proceed." Ruby nodded.

"We will see about that." Maxson sighed inwardly.

#

Ruby sat herself at the far corner of the table. Her seat groaned every time she adjusted her weight around. She wondered why it hadn't fallen apart yet after all these years. Reaching up, she rubbed both of her hands into her temples. The meeting was long and strenuous. Neither party had seem willing to listen to the others complaints and requests. Leaning back into her chair, Ruby's hues gazed over her shoulder a bit. Hancock was leaning against the wall smoking another cigarette. It was obvious how annoyed he was over how this meeting was going. Desdemona would walk around the conference room, her arms crossed in front of her. She was frustrated, Maxson only stood in one spot, his dark hues following as the woman paced back and forth.

"How do you expect me to stay out of your way if you keep shooting at my agents?!" Desdemona snapped at Maxson.

"If I recall, synths are not human, so I am not murdering anyone." Maxson stood his ground.

"Not murdering?!" Desdemona shook her head.

"Enough…" Ruby stood up and slapped her hand down on the table. Desdemona almost jumped from the snap of noise.

"We aren't going to get anywhere if we keep arguing about the same things over and over again." Ruby sighed.

"So what do you propose." Maxson turned himself towards her. Gritting his teeth.

The woman stood up straight and tipped her head. "If you two only asked first."

Ruby looked over her shoulder and motioned Hancock over. The Mayor pulled himself off the wall, taking a step over to the woman's side. He reached deep inside his coat pocket and pulled out a few folded pieces of paper, slipping them into Ruby's hand.

Ruby gently took them and unfolded the papers. Laying them down on the table next to her, she slowly gazed up, her hues narrowing a bit.

"Ok, first things first. The treaty is to call off all conflicts between each major faction in the Commonwealth. This includes the Minutemen as well as the Railroad and Brotherhood." Ruby paused to make sure she had both of the leaders attentions. "Next I want the Railroad to call off this impending war you are declaring with the Brotherhood. With that the Brotherhood needs to immediately halt all hunts on Synths. Nobody is to fire on the other." Ruby's voice grew tight.

"But what if we need to defend ourselves?" Desdemona frowned.

"Obviously you can defend yourselves, but these witch hunts need to stop. The Brotherhood needs to stop shooting down groups of synths, people, innocent ghouls stat. I also wish to open trade between each faction." Ruby dropped her arms down to her sides.

"And how do you propose that will work?" Maxson gazed down at the woman.

"The Minutemen can help supply surplus supplies such as food and raw materials from my Settlements. With that we can trade weapons with the Brotherhood and Institute technology from the Railroad. Each faction will get a fair cut from the other. If anyone makes any threats, trade agreements can and will be immediately taken away." Ruby stood up straight, crossing her arms.

"I made copies of the full treaty here in these papers. If you agree to the terms, sign them and return them to me by tomorrow. Meeting is adjourned." The woman turned herself away from the two and walked out of the conference room, running her fingers over her face. Walking down the hallway, Ruby heard someone closely following her, their footsteps light. Turning her head over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of that red frock. Continuing down the hallway, the woman had finally made it to her room, nudging the door slowly open. Her gloved hands sunk down to her sides. Ruby's gaze slowly slid up to the Mayor's frame. Her face immediately growing sad.

"Hancock, do you honestly think I'm doing the right thing with this whole treaty?" Ruby turned herself away from his frame once again, slipping into the room.

Hancock caught the heavy door. Slipping inside with her, the Mayor gazed over to the woman as she slowly pulled her dark navy coat off of her shoulders, throwing it down on a old worn chair. Adjusting his tricorn hat, he moved over to the far side of the room, sinking down on the couch hoping the woman would follow him over.

"I'm sure you are love." His reply was simple. Ruby had started doubting in herself recently. He wasn't liking this new attitude he was seeing out of her. Normally she was so confident and sure in what she needed to get done but lately it had seemed the woman was hesitant and scared. He honestly didn't know what to tell her to help.

Ruby slowly pulled her tricorn hat off of her head, setting it down on the desk, her eyes gazed over to see Hancock nestled in the couch. He looked frustrated. Taking a deep breath in through her nose, she bit at the back of her bottom lip, moving herself closer to Hancock. Stepping over, she sank down into the couch next to him laying her head down on his shoulder. She felt his arm move over her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"Hancock."

"Shoot."

"Thoughts?" Ruby gazed up at him.

"Why are you doubting yourself lately?" The Mayor gazed down at Ruby gently. Concern was written deep into his eyes.

Ruby looked away briefly, hesitant on her answer.

"What is it love. What's botherin' you?" Hancock nudged her.

"Ever since I took down the Institute, I almost feel like that was the only thing I could achieve. Now I feel like I might fuck up something up, I didn't have room for mistakes when it came with the Institute.. But now.. I don't know.. I don't know what the future looks like." Ruby sighed.

"You aint losing hope are you?" Hancock's brows slowly sank down.

"No, absolutely not but I know that whatever I was doing with the Institute won't work for the Brotherhood and Railroad. It won't work for the Commonwealth. Taking down a group is a lot easier then preserving the peace between two groups that would rather much kill each other. I hope I can keep up with this. I hope the Minutemen can." Ruby shook her head.

"They can, and they will. You just need to keep that hope." Hancock leaned up, reaching over he hooked his finger under her chin and brought up her gaze. His dark hues searching her own.

"When I lost hope, people in Goodneighbor died. Don't make the same mistake that I did." Hancock shook his head.

"I won't." Ruby gave him a weak smile.

"Good. Promise?"

"Promise."

 **Authors Note:**

 **Really honestly trying to keep with a regular schedule in updating these chapters. I've been so out of the loop now that its been a bit hard to get back into but I wont disappoint you guys! Thank you for all the love! Means the world to me. Happy Reading!**


End file.
